Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
verb (used with or without object), mel·io·rat·ed, mel·io·rat·ing.
- ameliorate.
verb (used with or without object), a·mel·io·rat·ed, a·mel·io·rat·ing.
- to make or become better, more bearable, or more satisfactory; improve: strategies to ameliorate negative effects on the environment.
verb
- a variant of ameliorate
verb
- to make or become better; improve
v.1550s, “to make better,” back-formation from melioration or else from Late Latin melioratus, past participle of Latin meliorare “improve,” from melior “better,” used as comparative of bonus “good,” but probably originally meaning “stronger,” from PIE root *mel- “strong, great, numerous” (see multi-). Related: Meliorated; meliorating; melioration; meliorative. v.1728, perhaps a back-formation from amelioration on pattern of French améliorer. The simpler form meliorate was used in Middle English. Related: Ameliorated; ameliorating.