ameliorate
[uh-meel-yuh-reyt, uh-mee-lee-uh-]
verb (used with or without object), a·mel·io·rat·ed, a·mel·io·rat·ing.
to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve: strategies to ameliorate negative effects on the environment.
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The Amelioration of a Term: LeanAs the Ides of March rolls along, minds turn to Julius Caesar, whose assassination occurred on March 15 in 44 BCE. William Shakespeare tells one of the most popular fictionalized accounts of this famous Roman’s life in his play The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, first performed in 1599. Of its many memorable lines, perhaps the most famous is “Beware the Ides of March.” However, we …
RELATED WORDS
curative, beneficial, salutary, remedial, good, corrective, restorative, analeptic, salubrious, sanative
Nearby words
- ameds,
- ameer,
- ameerate,
- ameiosis,
- amelia,
- amelioration,
- ameliorative,
- ameloblast,
- ameloblastic fibroma,
- ameloblastic fibrosarcoma
Also meliorate.
Origin of ameliorate
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for ameliorative
ameliorate
verb
Word Origin for ameliorate
C18: from meliorate, influenced by French améliorer to improve, from Old French ameillorer to make better, from meillor better, from Latin melior
usage
Ameliorate is often wrongly used where alleviate is meant. Ameliorate is properly used to mean `improve', not `make easier to bear', so one should talk about alleviating pain or hardship, not ameliorating it
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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