meliorate

American  

[meel-yuh-reyt, mee-lee-uh-] / ˈmil yəˌreɪt, ˈmi li ə- /

verb (used with or without object)

meliorated, meliorating

1. ameliorate.

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meliorate British  

/ ˈmiːlɪəˌreɪt, ˈmiːlɪərətɪv /

verb

1. a variant of ameliorate

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Other Word Forms

• meliorable
  adjective
• meliorative
  adjective
• meliorator
  noun
• unmeliorated
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of meliorate

1545–55; < Latin meliōrātus (past participle of meliōrāre ) to make better, improve, equivalent to meliōr- (stem of melior ) better + -ātus -ate ¹

Example Sentences

“I consider such easy vehicles of knowledge, more happily calculated than any other, to preserve the liberty, stimulate the industry and meliorate the morals of an enlightened and free People.”

From Seattle Times • Sep. 15, 2021

That we have greatly improved on the opinions and practices of our ancestors, is quite as certain as that there will be occasion to meliorate the legacy of morals which we shall transmit to posterity.

From The Water-Witch or, the Skimmer of the Seas by Cooper, James Fenimore

Will this rapid intellectual progress tend ultimately to meliorate the condition of mankind?

From Curiosities of Medical Experience by Millingen, J. G. (John Gideon)

Their advance in the "habits and arts of civilization." rather encouraged perseverance in the laudable exertions still farther to meliorate their condition.

From Opinion of the Supreme Court of the United States, at January Term, 1832, Delivered by Mr. Chief Justice Marshall in the Case of Samuel A. Worcester, Plaintiff in Error, versus the State of Georgia With a Statement of the Case, Extracted from the Records of the Supreme Court of the United States by Marshall, John

His father was much pleased to see his son endeavour to make himself agreeable in ladies’ society; he thought it augured a good sign, and would be conducive to meliorate and refine his manners.

From Alida or, Miscellaneous Sketches of Incidents During the Late American War. Founded on Fact by Comfield, Amelia Stratton