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meliorism

[meel-yuh-riz-uh m, mee-lee-uh-]
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noun
  1. the doctrine that the world tends to become better or may be made better by human effort.
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Origin of meliorism

1855–60; < Latin melior better + -ism
Related formsmel·io·rist, noun, adjectivemel·io·ris·tic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for meliorism

Historical Examples

  • Be they false or be they true, the meaning of them is this meliorism.

    Pragmatism

    William James

  • Meliorism treats salvation as neither inevitable nor impossible.

    Pragmatism

    William James

  • Meliorism,—the desire to better the conditions of life for themselves and for their children—animated them.

    The American Empire

    Scott Nearing

  • As an inevitable result of all the influences that constitute his world he finds himself yearning for meliorism as the crownpiece.

    The Vitalized School

    Francis B. Pearson

  • So he becomes the eloquent apostle of meliorism, proclaiming his gospel without abatement.

    The Vitalized School

    Francis B. Pearson

British Dictionary definitions for meliorism

meliorism

noun
  1. the notion that the world can be improved by human effort
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Derived Formsmeliorist, adjective, nounmelioristic, adjective

Word Origin

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

n.

"belief that the world tends to become better," 1868, from Latin melior (see meliorate) + -ism. Related: Meliorist (1835).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper