meliorism
[meel-yuh-riz-uh m, mee-lee-uh-]
- the doctrine that the world tends to become better or may be made better by human effort.
Show More
Origin of meliorism
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for meliorism
development, advance, upgrade, recovery, rise, advancement, increase, growth, enhancement, progress, revision, renovation, change, gain, amendment, cultivation, elevation, augmentation, progression, upbeatExamples from the Web for meliorism
Historical Examples of meliorism
Be they false or be they true, the meaning of them is this meliorism.
PragmatismWilliam James
Meliorism treats salvation as neither inevitable nor impossible.
PragmatismWilliam James
Meliorism,—the desire to better the conditions of life for themselves and for their children—animated them.
The American EmpireScott Nearing
As an inevitable result of all the influences that constitute his world he finds himself yearning for meliorism as the crownpiece.
The Vitalized SchoolFrancis B. Pearson
So he becomes the eloquent apostle of meliorism, proclaiming his gospel without abatement.
The Vitalized SchoolFrancis B. Pearson
meliorism
- the notion that the world can be improved by human effort
Show More
Word Origin for meliorism
C19: from Latin melior better
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 meliorism
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper