reform

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /rɪˈfɔːm/, US /rɪˈfɔːrm/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English reformen, borrowed from Old French reformer (“to rebuild, reconstruct”),^[2][3][4] and directly from Latin refōrmāre (“to form again, change, transform”),^[2][5] from re- “again, back” and fōrmāre “to form”, from fōrma “form”.^[2][3][6] The noun is from the verb, partly also from French réforme.^[2][5][4] It is related to form and reformation.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To renew or restore, as peace, and to bring a thing or person back to its original form: about 1340 in the OED,^[7] 1340 in Barnhart, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to change for the better, correct, improve” and of a person, to bring away from an evil life, is from the late 14th century,^[2][5] and of governments and institutions from the early 15th century.^[2] The noun, the removal of an abuse or improvement of something faulty, is from 1663, in Butler's Hudibras;^[3][7] it took over from the older reformation, which had acquired a special religious sense.^[2] A particular change for the better is from 1781,^[7] and political reform movements and bills are from the 1830s.^[7] Reformed churches (1580s) were mostly Calvinist,^[2] and Reform Judaism is from 1843.^[2] Reform school is from 1859.^[2] To form again is now usually written re-form.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1340 – to restore, renew.^[7][3]
• late 14th century – to improve; to amend a person.^[2]
• early 15th century – of governments and institutions.^[2]
• 1663 – noun, improvement, removal of an abuse.^[3][7]
• 1781 – a particular improvement.^[7]
• 1843 – Reform Judaism.^[2]
• 1859 – reform school.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To make changes in a system or institution so as to improve it.
2. To give up or make someone give up bad behaviour.
3. To put an end to an abuse or wrong.

Noun

1. A change that improves something, especially in a law or system.
2. Improvement of a person's conduct.

Adjective

1. Reform Of the liberal branch of Judaism that adapts traditional practice to modern life.

Word family

• reformability
• reformable
• reformer
• reformative
• reformatively
• reformativeness
• reformingly
• antireform

Related words

• reformation
• form
• reformatory
• re-form

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press