improve English · revision 2923

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1473|origins=la prōdest}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪmˈpruːv/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|improwen]],^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|xno|emprouwer|t=to turn to profit]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|fro|en-]], a causative prefix,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and [[m|fro|prou|t=profit]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[la-lat|prōde|t=advantageous]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) evolved from [[la|prōdest|t=it is of advantage]].^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) It also came in through Anglo-Latin improwiare.^(Barnhart 1988) The ''-v-'' spelling, rare before the 17th century, arose from confusion of u and v and the influence of [[prove]] and [[approve]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) It is related to [[proud]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To turn land to profit, to enclose and cultivate waste land: 1473 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) the late 15th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The OED has the sense in Anglo-French and Anglo-Latin documents from 1292.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From profiting by land came “to use to advantage”, before 1529,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and “to make good use of an event or time”, from 1539.^(OED 1989) ''Improve the occasion'' keeps this older sense.^(Etymonline) “To make better, raise to a better quality” is from 1617 in Barnhart^(Barnhart 1988) and the 1610s in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and the intransitive “to get better” from 1727.^(Etymonline) Making land more valuable by clearing and building survived or was revived in the American colonies and Australia,^(Etymonline) and in American use ''improve'' also meant to occupy a place.^(OED 1989) A separate obsolete ''improve'', from Latin improbāre, meant “to disprove, censure”, from about 1449,^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) and Trench notes how that sense survived in 16th-century writers.^(Trench 1859)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1292 – the sense in Anglo-French documents.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1473 – to turn land to profit.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1529 – to employ to advantage.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1539 – to make good use of an occasion.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1617 – to make better.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1727 – to become better.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make better in quality or condition.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To increase the value or productivity of land or property.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To become better.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To use profitably.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[improvability]]

+ * [[improvable]]

+ * [[improver]]

+ * [[improvably]]

+ * [[improvingly]]

+ * [[improvement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[proud]]

+ * [[prowess]]

+ * [[prove]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In the dialect of Rutland and elsewhere ''improve'' meant “to learn one's trade as an apprentice”.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}