ameliorator

ameliorate (əˈmiːljəˌreɪt)

—vb
	to make or become better; improve

[C18: from meliorate, influenced by French améliorer to improve, from Old French ameillorer to make better, from meillor better, from Latin melior]

usage Ameliorate is often wrongly used where alleviate is meant. Ameliorate is properly used to mean `improve', not `make easier to bear', so one should talk about alleviating pain or hardship, not ameliorating it

ameliorable

—*adj*

a'meliorant

—n

a'meliorative

—*adj*

a'meliorator

—n

ameliorate (əˈmiːljəˌreɪt)

—vb
	to make or become better; improve

[C18: from meliorate, influenced by French améliorer to improve, from Old French ameillorer to make better, from meillor better, from Latin melior]

usage Ameliorate is often wrongly used where alleviate is meant. Ameliorate is properly used to mean `improve', not `make easier to bear', so one should talk about alleviating pain or hardship, not ameliorating it

ameliorable

—*adj*

a'meliorant

—n

a'meliorative

—*adj*

a'meliorator

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

ameliorate

1767 (implied in ameliorating); see amelioration. The simpler form meliorate was used in M.E. Ameliorative is attested from 1809.

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ameliorator

a·mel·io·rate