Reformation
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
reformation
n 1: improvement (or an intended improvement) in the existing
form or condition of institutions or practices etc.;
intended to make a striking change for the better in social
or political or religious affairs
2: a religious movement of the 16th century that began as an
attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in
the creation of Protestant churches [syn: {Reformation},
{Protestant Reformation}]
3: rescuing from error and returning to a rightful course; "the
reclamation of delinquent children" [syn: {reclamation},
{reformation}]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Reformation \Ref`or*ma"tion\ (r?f`?r*m?"sh?n), n. [F.
r['e]formation, L. reformatio.]
1. The act of reforming, or the state of being reformed;
change from worse to better; correction or amendment of
life, manners, or of anything vicious or corrupt; as, the
reformation of manners; reformation of the age;
reformation of abuses.
[1913 Webster]
Satire lashes vice into reformation. --Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
2. Specifically (Eccl. Hist.), the important religious
movement commenced by Luther early in the sixteenth
century, which resulted in the formation of the various
Protestant churches.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Reform; amendment; correction; rectification.
Usage: {Reformation}, {Reform}. Reformation is a more
thorough and comprehensive change than reform. It is
applied to subjects that are more important, and
results in changes which are more lasting. A
reformation involves, and is followed by, many
particular reforms. "The pagan converts mention this
great reformation of those who had been the greatest
sinners, with that sudden and surprising change which
the Christian religion made in the lives of the most
profligate." --Addison. "A variety of schemes, founded
in visionary and impracticable ideas of reform, were
suddenly produced." --Pitt.
[1913 Webster]
from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
REFORMATION, criminal law. The act of bringing back a criminal to such a
sense of justice, so that he may live in society without any detriment to
it.
2. The object of the criminal law ought to be to reform the criminal,
while it protects society by his punishment. One of the best attempts at
reformation is the plan of solitary confinement in a penitentiary. While the
convict has time to reflect he cannot be injured by evil example or corrupt
communication.
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
116 Moby Thesaurus words for "reformation":
Fabianism, abject apology, about-face, accommodation, adaptation,
adjustment, adoption, alteration, amelioration, amendment, apology,
apostasy, betterment, break, change, change of allegiance,
change of heart, change of mind, changeableness, circumcision,
constructive change, continuity, conversion, deathbed repentance,
defection, degeneration, degenerative change, deterioration,
deviation, difference, discontinuity, divergence, diversification,
diversion, diversity, extremism, fitting, flip-flop,
gradual change, gradualism, heartfelt apology, improvement,
instauration, mea culpa, melioration, meliorism, mitigation,
modification, modulation, new birth, new life, overthrow, penance,
penitence, progressivism, qualification, radical change,
radical reform, radicalism, re-creation, reactivation, realignment,
rebirth, reclamation, reconstitution, reconversion, recrudescence,
redeemedness, redemption, redesign, redintegration, reenactment,
reestablishment, reform, reformism, regeneration, rehabilitation,
reinstatement, reinstation, reinstitution, reinvestiture,
reinvestment, remaking, renascence, renewal, repentance,
replacement, reshaping, restitution, restoration, restructuring,
reversal, reversion, revisionism, revival, revivification,
revolution, saeta, salvation, second birth, shift,
spiritual purification, sudden change, switch, total change,
transformation, transition, turn, turnabout, upheaval, utopianism,
variation, variety, violent change, wearing a hairshirt,
worsening
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