improvement : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: improvement	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for improvement
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
improvement n a change for the better; progress in development [syn: improvement, betterment, advance] the act of improving something; "their improvements increased the value of the property" a condition superior to an earlier condition; "the new school represents a great improvement" Synonym(s): improvement, melioration Antonym(s): declination, decline
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Improvement \Improve"ment\, n. 1. The act of improving; advancement or growth; promotion in desirable qualities; progress toward what is better; melioration; as, the improvement* of the mind, of land, roads, etc. I look upon your city as the best place of improvement. --South. Exercise is the chief source of improvement in all our faculties. --Blair. 2. The act of making profitable use or applicaton of anything, or the state of being profitably employed; a turning to good account; practical application, as of a doctrine, principle, or theory, stated in a discourse. [bd]A good improvement of his reason.[b8] --S. Clarke. I shall make some improvement of this doctrine. --Tillotson. 3. The state of being improved; betterment; advance; also, that which is improved; as, the new edition is an improvement on the old. The parts of Sinon, Camilla, and some few others, are improvements on the Greek poet. --Addison. 4. Increase; growth; progress; advance. There is a design of publishing the history of architecture, with its several improvements and decays. --Addison. Those vices which more particularly receive improvement by prosperity. --South. 5. pl. Valuable additions or betterments, as buildings, clearings, drains, fences, etc., on premises. 6. (Patent Laws) A useful addition to, or modification of, a machine, manufacture, or composition. --Kent.