meliorate

English

Etymology

First attested in 1542; borrowed from Late Latin meliorātus, perfect passive participle of meliorō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from melior (“better”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmiːli.əɹeɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

meliorate (third-person singular simple present meliorates, present participle meliorating, simple past and past participle meliorated)

1. (transitive) To make better; to improve; to solve a problem.

   They offered some compromises in an effort to meliorate the disagreement.

   • 1648, John Denham, Cato Major:

     Nature by art we nobly meliorate.

   • June 8, 1783, George Washington, Circular to the States

     […] and the pure and benign light of revelation have had a meliorating influence on mankind.

2. (intransitive) To become better.

Synonyms

• ameliorate, see also Thesaurus:improve

Derived terms

• meliorable
• meliorater
• melioration
• meliorative
• meliorator

Related terms

• ameliorate

Latin

Verb

meliōrāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of meliōrō