Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

meliorate

[meel-yuh-reyt, mee-lee-uh-]
verb (used with or without object), mel·io·rat·ed, mel·io·rat·ing.
  1. ameliorate.
Show More

Origin of meliorate

1545–55; < Latin meliōrātus (past participle of meliōrāre) to make better, improve, equivalent to meliōr- (stem of melior) better + -ātus -ate1
Related formsmel·io·ra·ble [meel-yer-uh-buh l, mee-lee-er-uh-] /ˈmil yər ə bəl, ˈmi li ər ə-/, adjectivemel·io·ra·tive [meel-yuh-rey-tiv, -yer-uh-tiv, mee-lee-uh-rey-, -er-uh-] /ˈmil yəˌreɪ tɪv, -yər ə tɪv, ˈmi li əˌreɪ-, -ər ə-/, adjectivemel·io·ra·tor, nounun·mel·io·rat·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for meliorative

meliorate

verb
  1. a variant of ameliorate
Show More
Derived Formsmeliorable, adjectivemeliorative (ˈmiːlɪərətɪv), adjective, nounmeliorator, noun
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 meliorative

meliorate

v.

1550s, "to make better," back-formation from melioration or else from Late Latin melioratus, past participle of Latin meliorare "improve," from melior "better," used as comparative of bonus "good," but probably originally meaning "stronger," from PIE root *mel- "strong, great, numerous" (see multi-). Related: Meliorated; meliorating; melioration; meliorative.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper