Adjacent Words

Reform definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

REFORM', v.t. [L. reformo; re and formo, to form.]
1. To change from worse to better; to amend; to correct; to restore to a former good state, or to bring from a bad to a good state; as, to reform a profligate man; to reform corrupt manners or morals.
The example alone of a vicious prince will corrupt an age, but that of a good one will not reform it.
2. To change from bad to good; to remove that which is bad or corrupt; as, to reform abuses; to reform the vices of the age.
REFORM', v.i. To abandon that which is evil or corrupt, and return to a good state; to be amended or corrected. A man of settled habits of vice will seldom reform.
RE'-FORM, v.t. [re and form; with the accent on the first syllable.] To form again; to create or shape anew.
REFORM', n. Reformation; amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt or depraved; as the reform of parliamentary elections; reform of government.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a change for the better as a result of correcting abuses; "justice was for sale before the reform of the law courts"
2: a campaign aimed to correct abuses or malpractices; "the reforms he proposed were too radical for the politicians"
3: self-improvement in behavior or morals by abandoning some vice; "the family rejoiced in the drunkard's reform" v
1: make changes for improvement in order to remove abuse and injustices; "reform a political system"
2: bring, lead, or force to abandon a wrong or evil course of life, conduct, and adopt a right one; "The Church reformed me"; "reform your conduct" [syn: reform, reclaim, regenerate, rectify]
3: produce by cracking; "reform gas"
4: break up the molecules of; "reform oil"
5: improve by alteration or correction of errors or defects and put into a better condition; "reform the health system in this country"
6: change for the better; "The lazy student promised to reform"; "the habitual cheater finally saw the light" [syn: reform, straighten out, see the light]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French refurmer, from Latin reformare, from re- + formare to form, from forma form Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to put or change into an improved form or condition b. to amend or improve by change of form or removal of faults or abuses 2. to put an end to (an evil) by enforcing or introducing a better method or course of action 3. to induce or cause to abandon evil ways <reform a drunkard> 4. a. to subject (hydrocarbons) to cracking b. to produce (as gasoline or gas) by cracking intransitive verb to become changed for the better Synonyms: see correct • reformability noun • reformable adjective II. noun Date: 1663 1. amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved 2. a removal or correction of an abuse, a wrong, or errors 3. capitalized Reform Judaism III. adjective Date: 1819 relating to or favoring reform

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 tr. & intr. make or become better by the removal of faults and errors. 2 tr. abolish or cure (an abuse or malpractice). 3 tr. US correct (a legal document). 4 tr. Chem. convert (a straight-chain hydrocarbon) by catalytic reaction to a branched-chain form for use as petrol. --n. 1 the removal of faults or abuses, esp. of a moral or political or social kind. 2 an improvement made or suggested. Phrases and idioms: Reformed Church a Church that has accepted the principles of the Reformation, esp. a Calvinist Church (as distinct from Lutheran). Reform Judaism a simplified and rationalized form of Judaism. reform school an institution to which young offenders are sent to be reformed. Derivatives: reformable adj. Etymology: ME f. OF reformer or L reformare (as RE-, FORM)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Reform Re*form", v. i. To return to a good state; to amend or correct one's own character or habits; as, a man of settled habits of vice will seldom reform.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Reform Re*form", n. [F. r['e]forme.] Amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved; reformation; as, reform of elections; reform of government. Civil service reform. See under Civil. Reform acts (Eng. Politics), acts of Parliament passed in 1832, 1867, 1884, 1885, extending and equalizing popular representation in Parliament. Reform school, a school established by a state or city government, for the confinement, instruction, and reformation of juvenile offenders, and of young persons of idle, vicious, and vagrant habits. [U. S.] Syn: Reformation; amendment; rectification; correction. See Reformation.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Reform Re*form" (r?*f?rm"), v. t. [F. r['e]former, L. reformare; pref. re- re- + formare to form, from forma form. See Form.] To put into a new and improved form or condition; to restore to a former good state, or bring from bad to good; to change from worse to better; to amend; to correct; as, to reform a profligate man; to reform corrupt manners or morals. The example alone of a vicious prince will corrupt an age; but that of a good one will not reform it. --Swift. Syn: To amend; correct; emend; rectify; mend; repair; better; improve; restore; reclaim.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(reforms, reforming, reformed) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Reform consists of changes and improvements to a law, social system, or institution. A reform is an instance of such a change or improvement. The party embarked on a programme of economic reform... The Socialists introduced fairly radical reforms. N-VAR 2. If someone reforms something such as a law, social system, or institution, they change or improve it. ...his plans to reform the country's economy... A reformed party would have to win the approval of the people. VERB: V n, V-ed 3. When someone reforms or when something reforms them, they stop doing things that society does not approve of, such as breaking the law or drinking too much alcohol. When his court case was coming up, James promised to reform... We will try to reform him within the community. VERB: V, V n • reformed ...a reformed alcoholic. ADJ: usu ADJ n 4. see also re-form

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

re-form' (yacar): The word in the Revised Version (British and American) is found only in Le 26:23, in the phrase "ye will not be reformed." The meaning is, "to be instructed," or, more fully, "to let one's self be chastened," i.e. by God's discipline to learn the lessons of this chastening.

The Hebrew word is the same in a similar connection in Jer 6:8, where it is rendered, "Be thou instructed," and in Jer 31:18, "I was chastised." Ps 2:10 ("instructed"); Pr 29:19 ("corrected") use the Hebrew term of admonition by the words of man.

The King James Version also has "reform" in 2 Esdras 8:12; The Wisdom of Solomon 9:18.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Correct, amend, mend, emend, ameliorate, meliorate, better, improve, rectify, repair, restore, reclaim. 2. Remodel, form anew. II. v. n. Amend, become better. III. n. Reformation, amendment, rectification, correction.

Foolish Dictionary

In general, a periodic epidemic, starting with marked heat, followed by a high fever, and accompanied by a flow of ink in the newspapers, a discharge of words from the face and a rush of blood to the polls, leaving the victim a chronic invalid until the next campaign. In New York, reform has been confined to a Low attempt at government.

Moby Thesaurus

Fabianism, about-face, accommodate, accommodation, acculturate, adapt, adaptation, adjust, adjustment, advance, alter, alteration, ameliorate, amelioration, amend, amendment, apologize, apostasy, beg pardon, better, betterment, bleach, boost, bowdlerize, break, break up, bring forward, change, change of allegiance, change of heart, change of mind, changeableness, civilize, clean, clean out, clean up, cleanse, clear out, constructive change, continuity, conversion, convert, correct, correction, defection, deform, degeneration, degenerative change, delouse, denature, depurate, deterge, deterioration, deviation, difference, discontinuity, divergence, diversification, diversify, diversion, diversity, do penance, dry-clean, dust, dust off, edify, educate, elevate, emend, emendation, enhance, enlighten, enrich, expurgate, extremism, fatten, favor, fit, fitting, fix, flip-flop, forward, foster, freshen, give back, give salvation, go straight, gradual change, gradualism, improve, improve upon, improvement, lard, lift, lustrate, make an improvement, meliorate, melioration, meliorism, mend, mitigate, mitigation, modification, modify, modulate, modulation, mutate, new birth, new-model, nurture, overthrow, place in, plead guilty, progressivism, promote, purge, purify, put back, qualification, qualify, radical change, radical reform, radicalism, raise, re-create, re-creation, re-form, reactivate, realign, realignment, rebirth, rebuild, reclaim, reclamation, reconstitute, reconstruct, reconvert, recover, recovery, recrudescence, recruit, rectification, rectify, redeem, redemption, redesign, redo, reenact, reestablish, refashion, refill, refine upon, refit, reformation, reformism, regenerate, regeneration, rehabilitate, rehabilitation, reinstall, reinstate, reinstitute, reintegrate, reinvest, remake, remaking, remedy, remodel, renascence, renew, renewal, renovate, renovation, reorganization, reorganize, repair, repent, replace, replenish, reshape, reshaping, restore, restore self-respect, restructure, restructuring, return, revamp, reversal, revest, revise, revisionism, revival, revive, revivification, revolution, revolutionize, ring the changes, save, scavenge, set straight, shift, shift the scene, shuffle the cards, socialize, spruce, steam-clean, straighten out, subvert, sudden change, sweep out, sweeten, switch, think better of, tidy, total change, transfigure, transform, transformation, transition, turn, turn the scale, turn the tables, turn the tide, turn upside down, turnabout, upgrade, upheaval, uplift, utopianism, variation, variety, vary, violent change, whiten, wipe, wipe off, wipe out, wipe up, work a change, worsen, worsening