improvement

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Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪmˈpɹuːvmənt/

Noun

improvement

1. The act of improving; advancement or growth; a bettering

   • I look upon your city as the best place of improvement.

   • Exercise is the chief source of improvement in all our faculties.

2. The act of making profitable use or application of anything, or the state of being profitably employed; practical application, for example of a doctrine, principle, or theory, stated in a discourse.

   • A good improvement of his reason.

   • 1681, John Tillotson, A sermon preached at the funeral of the Reverend Mr Thomas Gouge

     I shall make some improvement of this doctrine.

3. The state of being improved; betterment; advance
4. Something which is improved

   the new edition is an improvement on the old.

   • The parts of Sinon, Camilla, and some few others, are improvements on the Greek poet.

5. Increase; growth; progress; advance.

   • Those vices which more particularly receive improvement by prosperity.

6. (in plural) Valuable additions or betterments, for example buildings, clearings, drains, fences, etc., on premises.
7. (Patent Laws): A useful addition to, or modification of, a machine, manufacture, or composition.

Synonyms

• improval, amelioration

Antonyms

• worsening
• deterioration
• disimprovement

Translations

• French: amélioration
• German: Verbesserung
• Italian: miglioramento, salto di qualità
• Portuguese: melhora, melhoramento, melhoria
• Russian: улучше́ние
• Spanish: mejora, mejoramiento, enmienda, mejoría

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