ameliorate
[uh-meel-yuh-reyt, uh-mee-lee-uh-]
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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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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 ameliorator
He was not, however, quite in a condition to see the Ameliorator clearly.
Except,' he added, pulling the card from his pocket, 'except the Amel—Amelior—except the Ameliorator.'
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
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
ameliorate
1728, perhaps a back-formation from amelioration on pattern of French améliorer. The simpler form meliorate was used in Middle English. Related: Ameliorated; ameliorating.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper