AMELIORATION OF WORD MEANING

Gemma España Cristina Garcia

Concept Amelioration, or elevation, is a

linguistic process by which a word's meaning improves or becomes elevated, coming to represent something more favorable than it originally referred to.

Elevation is a rare occurrence compared with the opposite process of pejoration, or downgrading. Most of the cases indicate social changes.

Examples The word nice is a classic example of

amelioration. The meaning of nice when it first appeared in Middle English was: foolish, silly, simple, ignorant, senseless, absurd.A little disagreement began in the 1500s, with such meanings as : requiring or involving great precision or accuracy.The movement towards amelioration reached its apex in the 1800s with such meanings as: kind and considerate, friendly,etc.

More examples Lord in the past meant a head of household

or keeper of bread, and actually it refers to nobility or high social people.

Hence, villein, a medieval serf, still lower in the hierarchy, deteriorated to villain and churlish, while noble and gentle, predictably, rise in moral connotations.

In more recent times, the steady amelioration of ambitious and aggressive reveals a change in attitude towards those who seek advancement or success in a highly competitive way.

Activity

Nice Lord Private Sehr (German) Dezmierda

(Rumanian) Caballo (Spanish)

Equus Withdraw from

public life Silly, absurd Exemerdare Sore Household

Try to match the word ameliorationed with its old meaning:

THE END

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