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amend

[uh-mend]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to alter, modify, rephrase, or add to or subtract from (a motion, bill, constitution, etc.) by formal procedure: Congress may amend the proposed tax bill.
  2. to change for the better; improve: to amend one's ways.
  3. to remove or correct faults in; rectify.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to grow or become better by reforming oneself: He amends day by day.
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Origin of amend

1175–1225; Middle English amenden < Old French amender < Latin ēmendāre “to correct,” equivalent to ē- e-1 + mend(a) “blemish” + -āre infinitive suffix
Related formsa·mend·a·ble, adjectivea·mend·er, nounnon·a·mend·a·ble, adjectivere·a·mend, verbun·a·mend·a·ble, adjectiveun·a·mend·ed, adjectiveun·a·mend·ing, adjectivewell-a·mend·ed, adjective

Synonym study

3. Amend, emend both mean to improve by correcting or by freeing from error. Amend is the general term, used of any such correction in detail: to amend spelling, punctuation, grammar. Emend usually applies to the correction of a text in the process of editing or preparing for publication; it implies improvement in the sense of greater accuracy: He emended the text of the play by restoring the original reading.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for amended

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • "Not alone, if I can help it, Mr. Burnham," Duncan amended sweetly.

    The Fortune Hunter

    Louis Joseph Vance

  • "And that's a lie," Gene amended, with the frankness of a foster-brother.

    Good Indian

    B. M. Bower

  • It has been amended to "at the Inn" to match the chapter heading.

    The Story of Don Quixote

    Arvid Paulson, Clayton Edwards, and Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

  • He is to be amended, but this is impossible with his mind in a state of hostility.

  • The principle is bad, radically rotten, and cannot be amended.

    Ireland as It Is

    Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)

British Dictionary definitions for amended

amend

verb (tr)
  1. to improve; change for the better
  2. to remove faults from; correct
  3. to alter or revise (legislation, a constitution, etc) by formal procedure
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Derived Formsamendable, adjectiveamender, noun

Word Origin

C13: from Old French amender, from Latin ēmendāre to emend
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

Word Origin and History for amended

amend

v.

early 13c., "to free from faults, rectify," from Old French amender (12c.), from Latin emendare "to correct, free from fault," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + menda "fault, blemish," from PIE *mend- "physical defect, fault" (cf. Sanskrit minda "physical blemish," Old Irish mennar "stain, blemish," Welsh mann "sign, mark").

Supplanted in senses of "repair, cure" by its shortened offspring mend (v.). Meaning "to add to legislation" (ostensibly to correct or improve it) is recorded from 1777. Related: Amended; amending.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper