English
melioration
Melioration comes from Latin meliōrātiō ‘melioration (improvement)’, from bonus ‘better’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *dwenos ‘good’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dwenos‘good’reconstructed
- Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEduenos
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEduonus
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbonusas melior‘better’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeliōrō‘to improve, make better’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeliōrātiō‘melioration (improvement)’
- Englishearliest quotation 1860melioration
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dwenos‘good’reconstructed
- Archaic Latinc. 700–75 BCEduenos
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEduonus
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbonusas melior‘better’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeliōrō‘to improve, make better’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmeliōrātiō‘melioration (improvement)’
- Englishearliest quotation 1860melioration
Earliest quotation: 1860, True Worthy Hoit: “It would seem that the rise and progress of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- ‘to fit’
down, town, tool, teen, dynamic, dynasty, tow, dun, dynamo, dynastic, tine, taw, beaucoup, beauteous, 90 more
through Proto-Italic *dwenos ‘good’
beautiful, beauty, boo, beau, rebellion, rebellious, bello, rebelling, benefice, bauble, 35 more
through Archaic Latin duenos
ben, beneficial, rebel, beneficiary, revel, bene, bellicose, 36 more
through Latin bonus ‘better’
bonus, optimal, optimism, bonnie, boon, bona, bonny, bonbon, 13 more
Today it means
noun —
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *dwenos / melioration