ameliorate

English

WOTD – 7 September 2006

Etymology

Borrowed from French améliorer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈmiːli.əɹeɪt/

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Verb

ameliorate (third-person singular simple present ameliorates, present participle ameliorating, simple past and past participle ameliorated)

1. (transitive) To make better, or improve, something perceived to be in a negative condition.

   They offered some compromises in an effort to ameliorate the situation.

   • 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 3, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volumes (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:

     In every human being there is a wish to ameliorate his own condition.

2. (intransitive) To become better; improve.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:improve

Antonyms

• deteriorate
• worsen

Related terms

• amelioration
• ameliorative
• ameliorable
• inameliorable
• meliorate

Translations

to make better

• Bulgarian: подобрявам (bg) (podobrjavam)
• Catalan: millorar (ca)
• Chinese: 改善 (zh) (gǎishàn)
• Czech: zlepšit (cs)
• Danish: forbedre (da)
• Dutch: verbeteren (nl), amelioreren
• Finnish: parantaa (fi), kohentaa (fi)
• French: améliorer (fr)
• Galician: mellorar (gl), aboar (gl)
• German: verbessern (de)
• Italian: migliorare (it)
• Japanese: 改良する (ja) (kairyō suru), 良くする (ja) (yoku suru), 好転させる (ja) (kōten saseru)
• Korean: 개선(改善)하다 (ko) (gaeseonhada)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: baş (ku) kirin, qenc (ku) kirin, çê (ku) kirin, çak (ku) kirin, sax (ku) kirin

• Macedonian: по́добри (pódobri)
• Portuguese: aperfeiçoar (pt), melhorar (pt)
• Romanian: ameliora (ro), îmbunătăți (ro)
• Russian: улучша́ть (ru) impf (ulučšátʹ), улу́чшить (ru) pf (ulúčšitʹ)
• Spanish: mejorar (es)
• Swedish: förbättra (sv)
• Turkish: iyileştirmek (tr)

See also

• alleviate
• mitigate