Table of Contents
The word for today is…
meliorism (noun) – 1. The belief that the human condition can be improved through concerted effort.
- The belief that there is an inherent tendency toward progress or improvement in the human condition.
Source : The Free Dictionary
Etymology : n 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 an early documented use of meliorism; however, there is evidence that meliorist had been around decades 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 or more tolerable”) that was introduced to English in the 1500s.
If you enjoyed this BFD word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends.
