betteringn.
/ˈbɛt(ə)rɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbɛdərɪŋ/ 1.
a. The action or an act of making something better.Not always clearly distinguishable from sense 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [noun]
betteringeOE
amendmentc1230
bote of beam1330
meliorationa1400
upraisingc1400
reformation?a1425
amelioration?a1450
enrichinga1513
amendsa1547
gooding1567
betterment1594
meliorization1599
endearment1612
raisure1613
betterance1614
ascenta1616
ascension1617
enrichmenta1626
improvement1625
booty beam1642
meliorating1647
bonification1652
uplift1873
work1914
pickupa1916
upgrading1920
tone-up1943
stepping1958
upgradation1979
upgrade1980
eOE King Ælfred tr. Gregory Pastoral Care (Hatton) (1871) xxxi. 207 Se scamfæsta hæfð genoh on ðæm to his bettrunge ðæt his lareow hine suiðe lythwon gemyndgige his unðeawa.
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxiv. 378 Smeage gehwylc mann his ærran dæda..& fleo to þam mildheortan deman mid wope, þa hwile þe he andbidað ure beterunge [OE Cambr. Gg.3.28 betrunge].
a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 55 (MED) Men may..take of hem þere just dettis for beterynge of þese dettours.
a1535 T. More Dialoge of Comfort (1553) i. xiiii. sig. C.vii For the bettering of hys synfull soule.
1579 T. Lupton Thousand Notable Things i. 11 For the helping or bettering of memory, they made a Ring of pure golde.
1609 S. Lennard Exhortatory Instr. Speedy Resol. of Repentance v. vii. 396 When the minde of a man endeuoreth the bettering of it selfe.
1690 J. Norris Christian Blessedness 78 Nor Secondly, Does it [sc. private revenge] tend to the bettering of others.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 124. ¶6 After having consulted many Oculists for the bettering of his Sight.
1789 Analyt. Rev. 3 App. 608 A new secret Institution for the bettering of Mankind.
1846 R. C. Trench Notes Miracles xix. 314 It was no true bettering of the disciples which they desired.
1951 Classical Philol. 46 42/1 These range from minor corrections of orthography, or slight betterings of previous attempts, to very considerable improvements.
2010 E. M. Ziegler Schools in Landscape vi. 101 The bettering of the home through good housekeeping.
b. spec. The action of improving or enhancing land or property; an instance of this. In early use also in plural: †the proceeds from such improvement (obsolete). Cf. betterment n. 1b. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > [noun] > improvement of buildings, etc.
policy1472
betteringa1475
betterment1784
rehab1975
a1475 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Godstow Nunnery (1906) ii. 509 (MED) Hit shold be lawfull..to take the said selde..with the pertynentis, with all the beteryngis and amendyngis that they put to them.
1556 Surv. Calais in Archaeologia (1893) 53 App. ii. 370 If ther be anie personne that sellethe or alienethe his betterings to anie other personne so it be on the kings land ought to pay to the kinge the vth pennie.
1573 Proclam. Elizabeth I 13 Apr. (single sheet) Tendryng their ayde and helpe..towardes the enlargyng & betteryng of an Hospital within that Citie of Bathe.
1594 H. Plat Diuerse Sorts of Soyle 3 in Jewell House The manuring, or bettering of all barren..grounds.
1615 E. Grimeston tr. P. d'Avity Estates 340 Reparations, and betterings made in other houses, and places which are sold.
1669 J. Worlidge Systema Agriculturæ v. 64 There are several sorts of Earth that are of singular use for the bettering of Land.
1728 S. Switzer Compend. Method raising Ital. Brocoli 36 Nor shall I add how much these and all the other Improvements beforemention'd will contribute to the bettering of poor Land.
1797 W. Vincent Voy. Nearchus 244 Some shallow watercourses, intended possibly for the purposes of agriculture, and the bettering of an arid soil.
1889 35th Ann. Rep. Iowa State Agric. Soc. 1888 541 More attention is paid toward improvement and bettering of buildings on the farms.
1925 C. Archer tr. S. Undset Mistress of Husaby i. ii. 48 Erlend had timber driven down from the woods for the mending and bettering of the houses.
2. The process of becoming better; the fact of having improved; an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun]
growingc1380
profitingc1384
increasec1385
bettering?c1425
progress1457
advancementc1475
service1533
progression1586
increment1609
upgrowinga1618
flowering1629
rise1676
development1756
evolution1796
march1818
headway1832
upgrowth1844
upbuilding1876
?c1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (Paris) (1971) 126 If any man..haue assayed to voyde..wiþ euaporynge farmacyes..wiþoute mollifieng medecynes, he is seyne ofte to take bettryng [?a1425 N.Y. Acad. Med. meliourament; L. melioramentum] forsoþe in fewe dayes.
1567 T. Stapleton Counterblast ii. xx. f. 189v Ye without any good occasion or bettering of your cause, bring in that Richaredus woorked these thinges without Pope Gregorie.
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets xxxii. sig. C3v Compare them with the bett'ring of the time. View more context for this quotation
1630 Bp. J. Hall Occas. Medit. §xl Oh God, thou art not capable eyther of bettering, or of change.
1718 R. Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 373 Your remark upon the bettering of my style in my History.
1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 1103 Improvement may in a great measure be effected, especially in what relates to bone or size, the hide or coat, the bettering of particular points or parts, [etc.].
1843 C. H. Townshend Facts in Mesmerism ii. iii. 182 There was a gradual bettering of his eyesight.
1872 J. S. Blackie Lays of Highlands 191 Not they who err are damned; but who being wrong..Refuse all bettering.
1933 D. Thomas Let. 25 Dec. (1987) 77 But any bettering in my poetry won't come at one leap; it's going to be..a very slow and ugly business.
1998 M. P. Riccards Vicars of Christ ii. 39 Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph..welcomed some bettering of ties between Germany and the papacy.
2009 Jerusalem Post (Nexis) 30 Aug. 5 There is little hope for a bettering of the economic situation.
Compounds
bettering house n. now historical any of various establishments dedicated to improving the health, behaviour, or morals of its occupants, as a reformatory, workhouse, almshouse, etc.; cf. house of correction n. at correction n. 4d. [Compare Dutch verbeterhuis (late 17th cent.), German Besserungshaus (18th cent. or earlier).]
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > reformatory prison
workhouse?c1475
house of correction1575
bridewell1583
work-jail1619
correction-housec1625
rasp house1651
bettering house1735
bettering mansion1740
penitentiary house1779
penitentiary1807
work farm1835
farm1857
pen1881
prison-industrial complex1965
1735 G. Berkeley Querist §59 Whether there are not such Things in Holland as bettering Houses for bringing young Gentlemen to Order?
1767 J. Hiltzheimer Diary 3 Jan. (1893) 12 Called..for Mrs. Reynell, took her to see the Bettering House [in Philadelphia].
1803 Digest Civil Laws Territory of Orleans ix. 82 The judge may order that the interdicted person be attended in his own house, or that he be placed in a bettering house.
1854 S. Austin Germany 1760–1814 83 Such a state of existence would now be thought fit only for a penal colony or a bettering-house.
1917 H. M. Lippincott Early Philadelphia 312 These quiet people knew well of the Bettering House.
2002 L. Beier in L. A. Knafla Crime, Gender, & Sexuality Criminal Prosecutions 40 The ‘bettering-houses’ established in the Netherlands and western Germany from the 1480s to the 1530s, which sought to reform delinquent youth through imprisonment.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > reformatory prison
workhouse?c1475
house of correction1575
bridewell1583
work-jail1619
correction-housec1625
rasp house1651
bettering house1735
bettering mansion1740
penitentiary house1779
penitentiary1807
work farm1835
farm1857
pen1881
prison-industrial complex1965
1740 G. Cheyne Ess. Regimen iii. 107 If they are reckon'd only Correction and Bettering Mansions.
1794 M. J. Rhys Let. in J. T. Griffith Rev. M. J. Rhys (1899) xiii. 93 No strong liquors will be admitted within the walls of this bettering mansion.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
betteringadj.
/ˈbɛt(ə)rɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbɛdərɪŋ/ Now rare.
That becomes better; improving.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [adjective]
betteringc1625
meliorating1649
improving1650
enriching1674
ameliorating1767
ameliorative1796
meliorative1808
uprating1968
the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > improvement > [adjective] > improving or growing better
improving1643
on the mend1802
bettering1876
c1625 Golden Age (single sheet) Oh this is a changing Age, Oh this is a bettering Age.
1644 W. Castell Short Discov. Coasts & Continent Amer. 27 They were comforted and supported: And so they continued in a much bettering estate, under the Command of Captain Smith.
1799 Considerations State Irel. 4 The bettering state, and mildening governments, of Europe.
1876 A. D. Whitney Sights & Insights II. 639 The struggling, distracted, half-blind, bettering earth.
1891 A. J. Munby Vestigia Retrorsum 71 The spirit of man must take its chance In a world of bettering circumstance.
1925 L. Mumford Let. 20 June in L. Mumford & P. Geddes Corr. (1995) 229 Here's to your bettering health.
1985 J. Bradley Traveler's Guide Smoky Mountains Region ix. 242 The theater flourished, and with a bettering economy was able to gently phase out the barter policy.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.eOE
adj.c1625