Word of the Day

meliorism \MEE-lee-uh-riz-um\ noun
: the belief that the world tends to improve and that humans can aid its betterment

Example sentence: Jane's resolute meliorism fueled her insistence that both world peace and the worldwide eradication of hunger were indeed attainable within her lifetime.

Did you know? In 1877, British novelist George Eliot believed she had coined "meliorist" when she wrote, "I don't know that I ever heard anybody use the word 'meliorist' except myself." Her contemporaries credited her with coining both "meliorist" and "meliorism," and one of her letters contains the first documented use of "meliorism," but there is evidence that at least "meliorist" had been around for 30 years or so before she started using it. Whoever coined it did so by drawing on the Latin "melior," meaning "better." It is likely that the English coinages were also influenced by another "melior" descendant, "meliorate," a synonym of "ameliorate" ("to make better") that was introduced to English in the mid-1500s.
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.


Just thought I'd share my nerd-dom with you for the day: what a great word for Easter!