melior

Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meˈljor/

Adjective

melior

1. (comparative degree of bon) better

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Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *meljōs, from Proto-Indo-European *mélyōs, from *mel- (“strong, big”). Cognate with multus, Ancient Greek μάλα (mála), Latvian milns (“very much, a lot of”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈme.li.or/, [ˈmɛlʲiɔr]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈme.li.or/, [ˈmɛːlior]

Adjective

melior (neuter melius, positive bonus); third declension

1. better; irregular comparative degree of bonus (“good”)

Declension

Third-declension comparative adjective.

Number	Singular			Plural
Case / Gender	Masc./Fem.	Neuter		Masc./Fem.	Neuter
Nominative	melior	melius		meliōrēs	meliōra
Genitive	meliōris			meliōrum
Dative	meliōrī			meliōribus
Accusative	meliōrem	melius		meliōrēs	meliōra
Ablative	meliōre			meliōribus
Vocative	melior	melius		meliōrēs	meliōra

Derived terms

• meliōrō

See also

• bonus
• optimus

Descendants

• Aragonese: millor
• Asturian: meyor
• Catalan: millor
• English: meliorate, ameliorate
• French: meilleur, mieux, améliorer
• Friulian: miôr, miei
• Galician: mellor
• Italian: migliore, meglio
• Norman: miyeu
• Ladin: miec

• Occitan: melhor, milhor
• Old French: mieudre, meillor
• Old Galician-Portuguese: mellor
• Portuguese: melhor
• Romansch: meglier
• Sardinian: megnus, mellus, mègius
• Sicilian: megghiu, megliu, miegliu
• Spanish: mejor
• Venetian: mejo, megio, meo

References

• “melior”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “melior”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• melior in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to find one's circumstances altered for the better (the worse): meliore (deteriore) condicione esse, uti
    
  • my position is considerably improved; my prospects are brighter: res meae meliore loco, in meliore causa sunt
    
  • my position is considerably improved; my prospects are brighter: meliorem in statum redigor
    
  • to hope well of a person: bene, optime (meliora) sperare de aliquo (Nep. Milt. 1. 1)
    
  • to induce some one to take a brighter view of things: in meliorem spem, cogitationem aliquem inducere (Off. 2. 15. 53)
    
  • heaven forfend: di prohibeant, di meliora!
    
  • (ambiguous) he feels better: melius ei factum est
    
  • (ambiguous) to deserve well at some one's hands; to do a service to..: bene, praeclare (melius, optime) mereri de aliquo