melioration
Americannoun
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Historical Linguistics. semantic change in a word to a more approved or more respectable meaning.
Etymology
Origin of melioration
1620–30; < Late Latin meliōrātiōn- (stem of meliōrātiō ), equivalent to meliōrāt ( us ) ( meliorate ) + -iōn- -ion
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But professional reformation or melioration is usually an organic, incremental process.
From BusinessWeek • Nov. 22, 2011
Prior to the agitation of this subject of abolition, there was a progressive melioration in the condition of the slaves—schools of instruction were opened by humane and religious persons.
From The Journal of Negro History, Volume 3, 1918 by Various
In respect to the instruction and melioration of the situation of the common people, we find as yet no attention whatever paid to these important subjects.
From Historical View of the Languages and Literature of the Slavic Nations by Robinson, Therese Albertine Louise von Jacob
May every sun that shines on your green island see the annihilation of an abuse, and the birth of an embryon of melioration!
From Percy Bysshe Shelley as a Philosopher and Reformer by Frederickson, Charles W.
Other things, equally if not more contributive to human melioration, are less distinctly in expectation.
From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 429 Volume 17, New Series, March 20, 1852 by Chambers, William
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
