melioration (n.)

c. 1400, melioracioun, "improvement, act or process of making or becoming better," from Late Latin meliorationem (nominative melioratio) "a bettering, improvement," noun of action from past-participle stem of meliorare "to improve" (see meliorate). Meliorations in Scottish law were "improvements made by a tenant upon rented land."

also from c. 1400

Entries linking to melioration

meliorate (v.)

1550s, "to make better, improve" (transitive), a back-formation from melioration or else from Late Latin melioratus, past participle of meliorare "improve," from Latin melior "better," used as comparative of bonus "good," but probably originally meaning "stronger," from PIE root *mel- (2) "strong, great." Intransitive sense of "to grow better, be improved" is from 1650s. Related: Meliorated; meliorating; meliorative.

*mel- (2)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "strong, great." It forms all or part of: ameliorate; amelioration; meliorate; melioration; meliorism; multi-; multiform; multiple; multiply; multitude. It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Greek mala "very, very much;" Latin multus "much, many," melior "better."

Trends of melioration

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to Explore

improvement

mid-15c., enprowment "profitable use, management of something for profit," from Anglo-French emprowement, from emprouwer "turn to profit" (see improve). Meaning "betterment; act of making better, amelioration" is from 1640s. Meaning "production of something better, something bett

decline

late 14c., "to turn aside, deviate" (a sense now archaic), also "sink to a lower level," and, figuratively, "fall to an inferior or impaired condition," from Old French decliner "to sink, decline, degenerate, turn aside," from Latin declinare "to lower; avoid, deviate; bend from,

status

1670s, "height" of a situation or condition, later "legal standing of a person" (1791), from Latin status "condition, position, state, manner, attitude," from past-participle stem of stare "to stand" (from PIE root *sta- "to stand, make or be firm"). In law, the meaning "legal st

reformation

late 14c., reformacioun, "restoration, re-establishment;" early 15c., "improvement, alteration for the better," from Old French reformacion and directly from Latin reformationem (nominative reformatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of reformare "to form again, change,

restoration

late 14c., restoracioun, "a means of healing or restoring health, a cure; renewing of something lost," from Old French restoration (Modern French restauration) and directly from Late Latin restorationem (nominative restoratio) "a restoration, renewal," noun of action from past-pa

drift

early 14c., literally "a being driven" (at first of snow, rain, etc.); not recorded in Old English, it is either a suffixed form of drive (v.) (compare thrift/thrive) or borrowed from Old Norse drift "snow drift," or Middle Dutch drift "pasturage, drove, flock," both from Proto-G

condition

mid-14c., condicioun, "particular mode of being of a person or thing," also "a requisite or prerequisite, a stipulation," from Old French condicion "stipulation; state; behavior; social status" (12c., Modern French condition), from Medieval Latin conditionem (nominative conditio)

development

1756, "a gradual unfolding, a full working out or disclosure of the details of something;" see develop + -ment. Meaning "the internal process of expanding and growing" is by 1796; sense of "advancement through progressive stages" is by 1836. Of property, with a sense of "a

renovation

c. 1400, renovacyoun, in theology, "spiritual rebirth wrought by the Holy Spirit," also in a general sense, "rebuilding, reconstruction; a making new after decay, destruction, or impairment," from Old French renovacion (13c.) and directly from Latin renovationem (nominative renov

traffic

c. 1500, "trade, commerce," from French trafique (15c.), from Italian traffico (14c.), from trafficare "carry on trade," of uncertain origin, perhaps from a Vulgar Latin *transfricare "to rub across," from Latin trans "across" (see trans-) + fricare "to rub" (see friction),

Share melioration

‘cite’

Page URL:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/melioration

HTML Link:

<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/melioration">Etymology of melioration by etymonline</a>

APA style:

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of melioration. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/melioration

Chicago style:

Harper Douglas, “Etymology of melioration,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/melioration.

MLA style:

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of melioration.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/melioration. Accessed $(datetimeMla).

IEEE style:

D. Harper. “Etymology of melioration.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/melioration (accessed $(datetime)).

updated on December 20, 2018

Remove ads >

Trending words

1. autumn
2. amen
3. virgin
4. hospitality
5. teacher
6. pride
7. chaos
8. empathy
9. deluge
10. ensconce

Dictionary entries near melioration

meld

*mele-

melee

*melg-

meliorate

melioration

meliorism

melisma

Melissa

*melit-

mell