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"improvement" in seven languages

Meaningimprovement

Spanish

mejora

/meˈxoɾa/

fem.inherited

A noun made from mejorar 'to improve'; mejoramiento also exists.

French

amélioration

/ameljɔʁasjɔ̃/

fem.inherited

From améliorer, a remake of Old French meillorer, with the learned suffix -ation.

Italian

miglioramento

/miʎʎoraˈmento/

masc.inherited

migliorare + -mento.

Portuguese

melhora

/meˈʎɔɾɐ/

fem.inherited

Melhoria is also common, especially for improvements to things.

Romanian

îmbunătățire

/ɨmbunətəˈtsire/

fem.other source · Romanian bun 'good' (Latin BONUM)

Catalan

millora

/miˈʎoɾə/

fem.inherited

English

improvement

/ɪmˈpɹuvmənt/

other source · improve (Anglo-French emprouwer 'to turn to profit') + -ment

The shared word is the formal ameliorate.

English → ItalianimprovementmiglioramentoNot relatedDifferent sources — learn this one fresh. But English has relatives: ameliorate.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

MELIŌRĀRE‘to make better (from MELIOR 'better')’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

All three are 'making better', built on the word for better: mejor, meilleur, migliore. The LI of MELIOR gave Spanish j, French ill and Italian gli.

English relatives: ameliorate

Sound laws at work

L + yod

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In a sentence

  • esHa habido una gran mejora.
  • frIl y a eu une nette amélioration.
  • itC'è stato un grande miglioramento.
  • ptHouve uma grande melhora.
  • roA fost o îmbunătățire mare.
  • caHi ha hagut una gran millora.
  • enThere has been a big improvement.

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