Etymologically
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melioro

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [mɛ.liˈoː.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [me.liˈɔː.ro][1]

Forms

meliōrō (present infinitive meliōrāre, perfect active meliōrāvī, supine meliōrātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin melior (“better”), a verb formed on the comparative.[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first instance in the TLL is a passage of Ulpian in the Digest, where improving a property (meliorare proprietatem) is permitted.[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

It was a word of the jurists and of Late Latin:[4][6] imperial laws speak of an improved estate, and later laws of fields made better.[3] Christian writers used it of gold refined in the fire and of things purified at the Judgement,[3] and in the passive it meant to get better or to make progress.[3]

The TLL notes Italian megliorare as its continuant.[3] English meliorate (1550s) comes from its participle, and ameliorate (1728) is formed on the same pattern.[7]

Timeline

  • before 223 AD – Ulpian speaks of improving a property.[3][5]
  • 294 AD – A law in the Justinian Code mentions an improved estate.[3][4]
  • c. 340–397 AD – Ambrose says gold is improved by fire.[3][5]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it in his letters.[3][4][5]
  • 1550s – English meliorate.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To make better, improve (land, property, a city).[2][4][3]
  2. To refine or purify (gold, vessels).[3]
  3. (passive) To get better, improve, make progress.[3]

Word family

  • meliōrātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com