amendment English · revision 5603

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=early 13th century}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English amendement, [[bor|fro|amendement|t=correction, improvement]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) from [[m|fro|amender|t=to amend]] and the suffix -ment.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) See [[amend]].^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Betterment, improvement: the early 13th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) Self-reformation and general improvement are from 1297 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Correction of persons is from about 1300,^(Etymonline) and recovery from illness from 1303.^(OED 1989) The sense expanded in the 17th century:^(Etymonline) correction of faults in a book or law is from 1599, and of an error in a legal writ from 1607.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The alteration of a bill before Parliament is from 1696 in the OED, the 1690s in Etymonline,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and the HTOED dates the sense “a formal change to a bill” to 1581.^(HTOED) The amendments to the United States Constitution are a familiar use.^(AHD) In southern English dialect, amendment was manure spread on the land, a sense the HTOED dates from 1483.^(Wright 1898)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * early 13th century – improvement.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1303 – recovery from illness.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1599 – correction of a book or law.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1696 – a change to a bill.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A change made to a law, [[bill]] or document, or a formal proposal to make one.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(Amendment)'' An article added to the [[constitution]] of the United States: ''the First Amendment''.^(AHD)

+ # The act of changing something to make it better; [[correction]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[reamendment]]

+ * [[proamendment]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[amend]]

+ * [[amends]]

+ * [[emend]]

+ * [[emendation]]

+ * [[mend]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}