Jump To:

• reformation
  reformation

  noun

  the act of changing to a better state or character, way of operating, lifestyle, etc.; the correction of abuses and bad habits or practices.
• Reformation
  Reformation

  noun

  a religious and political movement of 16th-century Europe that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant Churches

reformation

American  

[ref-er-mey-shuhn] / ˌrɛf ərˈmeɪ ʃən /

noun

reformations plural

1. the act of changing to a better state or character, way of operating, lifestyle, etc.; the correction of abuses and bad habits or practices.

   Last year the team underwent a reformation under the direction of a new head coach.

   The reformation of the justice system in that country is long overdue.

   Synonyms:

   reform, correction, betterment, improvement

2. an improved state or way of functioning that results from the correction of abuses and bad habits or practices.

   The gambler's so-called reformation lasted exactly one month.

3. Church History. the Reformation, the 16th-century movement that began with the objective of correcting theology and practice in the Roman Catholic Church and that ultimately led to the establishment of the Protestant churches.

---

reformation ¹ British  

/ ˌrɛfəˈmeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of reforming or the state of being reformed

---

Reformation ² British  

/ ˌrɛfəˈmeɪʃən /

noun

1. a religious and political movement of 16th-century Europe that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant Churches

---

Reformation Cultural  

1. A religious movement in the sixteenth century that began as an attempted reform of the Roman Catholic Church but resulted in the founding of Protestant church es separate from it. Some of the leaders of the Reformation were Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Knox. The Reformation was established in England after King Henry VIII declared himself head of the Christian Church in that country.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonreformation
  noun
• post-Reformation
  noun
• pre-Reformation
  noun
• self-reformation
  noun
• superreformation
  noun
• nonreformational
  adjective
• prereformation
  adjective
• reformational
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• reformations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of reformation

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English reformacion, from Latin refōrmātiōn-, stem of refōrmātiō, from refōrmāt(us) “reformed” (past participle of refōrmāre “to form again”; see reform) + -iō -ion

Explanation

Reformation means making changes to something with the intention of setting it back on the right path. Your life will be easier after the reformation of the transportation system, when the buses run more frequently. The act or process of changing a religious, political, or societal institution for the better is called a reformation. When capitalized, the Reformation refers specifically to the Protestant Reformation in Europe, which was a religious change instigated in 1517 by Protestants who wished to reform the Catholic Church. The root of reformation is the Latin word reformare, which means to form again or to change.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

reformation Reformation reformations

"It also aims to prevent the reformation of a criminal organisation that existed until a few years ago," he told a news conference.

From BBC ● May 28, 2026

However, the amount of reformation each winter is in decline, as rising temperatures due to climate change disproportionately affect the Arctic.

From Barron's ● Mar. 26, 2026

Shannon Lee briefly joined Laner for a reformation of Medicine in 2003 and the album “The Mechanical Forces of Love.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2024

"Our study shows that spiny mouse macrophages release distinct proteins that are partially responsible for the reformation of specialized tissues at the site of injury and for protecting cells from stress," said Seifert.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 25, 2024

But, since it was not permissible to ignore, those eight minutes pointed the road to a complete reformation in astronomy.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Many of them, scholars by training, found work as Greek teachers, and this wave of Greek instruction helped fuel both the Renaissance and, shortly after, the Reformation.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

Reformation, the fast-growing womenswear retailer popular among celebrities including Taylor Swift, Meghan Markle and Hailey Bieber, is getting ready to go public as soon as this summer, according to people familiar with the matter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

Reformation could confidentially file for an initial public offering as soon as next week, with the goal of going public as soon as July, the people said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

Reformation is on track to do more than $500 million in revenue this year, some of the people said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

Although English music outwardly toed the religious line, it is important to stress its one great anomaly during the Reformation period.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Ironically, “the” Reformation as the sundering of Christian unity was at least in part the product of prosaic reformations already occurring within the Church.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020

In Germany and Russia, political reformations of the world were attempted.

From Time Magazine Archive

I do not expect any great improvement in our prisons, till I see great reformations out of them.

From Recollections of Windsor Prison; Containing Sketches of its History and Discipline with Appropriate Strictures and Moral and Religious Reflection by Reynolds, John N.

Bossuet296 thinks with reason, that the heresies and schisms of this century might have been prevented, if necessary reformations had not been neglected.

From The Power Of The Popes by Daunou, Pierre Claude Fran?ois

Even this, of course, is itself the flower of numberless reformations and changes, all in the direction of simplicity and phonetic—or intended to be.

From The Scrap Book, Volume 1, No. 5 July 1906 by Various

Related Words

• realignment
• renewal
• reorganization
• transformation