meliorate

[meel-yuh-reyt, mee-lee-uh-]

verb (used with or without object), mel·io·rat·ed, mel·io·rat·ing.

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. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for meliorative

meliorate

verb

a variant of ameliorate

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

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.