AMELIORATION

OF WORD
MEANING

Gemma España
Cristina Garcia
Concept
 Amelioration, or elevation, is a
linguistic process by which a
word's meaning improves or becomes
elevated, coming to represent
something more favorable than it
originally referred to.
 Elevation is a rare occurrence
compared with the opposite
process of pejoration, or
downgrading. Most of the cases
indicate social changes.

Examples
 The word nice is a classic example of
amelioration.
 The meaning of nice when it first appeared
in Middle English was: foolish, silly, simple,
ignorant, senseless, absurd.
 A little disagreement began in the 1500s,
with such meanings as : requiring or involving
great precision or accuracy.
 The movement towards amelioration reached
its apex in the 1800s with such meanings as:
kind and considerate, friendly,etc.

More examples
 Lord in the past meant a head of
household or keeper of bread, and
actually it refers to nobility or
high social people.
 Hence, villein, a medieval serf, still
lower in the hierarchy, deteriorated
to villain and churlish, while noble
and gentle, predictably, rise in moral
connotations.
 In more recent times, the steady
amelioration of ambitious and
aggressive reveals a change in
attitude towards those who seek
advancement or success in a highly
competitive way.
Activity
Try to match the word ameliorationed with its
old meaning:

 Nice
 Equus
 Lord  Withdraw from
public life
 Private  Silly, absurd
 Sehr (German)  Exemerdare
 Dezmierda
(Rumanian)  Sore
 Caballo (Spanish)
 Household

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