English Explanatory Dictionary

improvement

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The act of improving; advancement or growth; a bettering
  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.
  3. The state of being improved; betterment; advance
  4. Something which is improved
  5. Increase; growth; progress; advance.
  6. Valuable additions or betterments, for example buildings, clearings, drains, fences, etc., on premises.
  7. A useful addition to, or modification of, a machine, manufacture, or composition.

Pronunciation

/ɪmˈpɹuːvmənt/ en-us-improvement.ogg

Word forms

improvement improvements emprovement

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman emprouwement. By surface analysis, improve + -ment.

Synonyms

improval amelioration

Antonyms

worsening deterioration disimprovement

Related words

uplift

Derived words

disimprovement home improvement Kaldor-Hicks improvement misimprovement nonimprovement overimprovement Pareto-improvement Pareto improvement pseudoimprovement require improvement tomahawk improvement unimprovement
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