meliorism definitions

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the belief that the world can be made better by human effort

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1877 the belief that the world tends to improve and that humans can aid its betterment • meliorist adjective or noun • melioristic adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a doctrine that the world may be made better by human effort. Derivatives: meliorist n. Etymology: L melior better + -ISM

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Meliorism Mel"io*rism, n. [From L. melior better.] The doctrine that there is a tendency throughout nature toward improvement. --J. Sully.