Etymology: Partly < Anglo-Norman reformacioun, refourmacion, refurmacion, Anglo-Norman and Middle French reformacion, reformation (French réformation ) correction, modification, change (1213 in Old French), radical change for the better, often viewed as a return to an earlier, purer form of customs, institutions, etc. (second half of the 13th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman with reference to society and politics (in refurmacion del estat del reaume ), beginning of the 15th cent. with reference to the church (in reformacion de l'Eglise ), end of the 15th cent. with reference to the reform of a religious order; the concrete sense 3c appears to be unparalleled in French), re-establishment (of peace) (1307), reparation, redress (14th cent. or earlier in Anglo-Norman), act of reforming one's conduct or character (1422 in the passage translated in quot. a1500 at sense 4a), currency reform (1426; rare before early 18th cent.), movement for the reform of the doctrines and practices of the church (1526) and its etymon classical Latin reformātiōn-, reformātiō transformation, reshaping, in post-classical Latin also regeneration, redemption (early 3rd cent. in Tertullian), improvement, amendment (frequently from c1080 in British sources), re-establishment (of peace) (frequently from 1218 in British sources), restoration, repayment (c1258, c1395 in British sources), movement for the reform of the doctrines and practices of the church (1528; < reformāt- , past participial stem of reformāre reform v.¹ + -iō -ion suffix¹). In some later uses (e.g. in sense 7) after reform v.¹ Compare Old Occitan reformacio, reformation (14th cent.), Catalan reformació (14th cent.), Spanish reformación (c1250 as †reformatión), Portuguese reformação (15th cent. as †reformaçã, †reformaçom), Italian riformazione (beginning of the 14th cent. as †reformatione, †riformatione). The Latin word was also borrowed into other European languages, either directly or indirectly; compare Middle Dutch reformatie, reformacie (Dutch reformatie), Middle Low German refōrmācie, refōrmātie, refōrmātiōn, early modern German reformatze (15th cent.), reformation (late 15th cent.; German Reformation), Danish reformation (early 16th cent. as †reformatz), Swedish reformation (1527 as †reformatie, earliest in sense ‘Protestant Reformation’; also †reformacion).