reformation

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ref·or·ma·tion

(rĕf′ər-mā′shən)

1. The act of reforming or the state of being reformed.

2. Reformation A 16th-century movement in Western Europe that aimed at reforming some doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant churches.

ref′or·ma′tion·al adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

reformation

(ˌrɛfəˈmeɪʃən)

the act or an instance of reforming or the state of being reformed

ˌreforˈmational adj

Reformation

(ˌrɛfəˈmeɪʃən)

(Protestantism) a religious and political movement of 16th-century Europe that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant Churches

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ref•or•ma•tion

(ˌrɛf ərˈmeɪ ʃən)

n.

1. the act of reforming or the state of being reformed.

2. (cap.) the 16th-century movement for reforming the Roman Catholic Church, which resulted in the establishment of the Protestant churches.

[1375–1425; reformacion < Latin refōrmātiō <refōrmā(re) to reform]

ref`or•ma′tion•al, adj.

Reformation

the 16th-century religious movement in Europe that resulted in the formation of Protestantism. — Reformational, adj.

Reformation

clean house To purge an organization of corruption and inefficiency; frequently used of government agencies. This expression and its noun form housecleaning have been used figuratively since the early part of this century.

cleanse the Augean stables To wipe out a massive accumulation of corruption, to clean house; to perform any seemingly impossible, arduous, and extremely unpleasant task. According to classical mythology, Augeas, king of Elis, kept three thousand oxen in stables which had not been cleaned for thirty years. As one of the twelve labors for which he was to be granted immortality, Hercules was assigned the task of cleaning them in a single day. This he accomplished by diverting the river Alpheus through the stables. A variant of this expression appeared as early as 1599.

clean up one’s act To make one’s actions or outward behavior more presentable or acceptable to others; to shape up. Although the exact origin of this recent American slang expression is unknown, it may derive from the theater; an entertainer is sometimes told to delete offensive or obscene material from his performance. Similar recent American slang expressions are to get one’s act together and the abbreviated get it together.

have scales fall from one’s eyes See DISILLUSIONMENT.

turn over a new leaf To change one’s ways for the better, to become a new and better person; to start fresh, to wipe the slate clean and begin anew.

I will turn over a new leaf, and write to you. (Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford, 1861)

Literally, this phrase means to turn to a clean, fresh page in a book. Since an open book is often figuratively used to represent a person’s life, turning to a blank page in this book of life symbolizes the start of a new and better chapter in one’s personal history. Use of this expression dates from the 16th century.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	reformation - 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 melioration, improvement - a condition superior to an earlier condition; "the new school represents a great improvement" counterreformation - a reformation intended to counter the results of a prior reformation
	2.	Reformation - 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 Protestant Reformation religious movement - a movement intended to bring about religious reforms
	3.	reformation - rescuing from error and returning to a rightful course; "the reclamation of delinquent children" reclamation deliverance, rescue, saving, delivery - recovery or preservation from loss or danger; "work is the deliverance of mankind"; "a surgeon's job is the saving of lives"

reformation

noun advancement, change, improvement, betterment, amelioration the reformation of science

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

إصْلاح، تَحْسين

přetvoření

forbedringreformation

Neugestaltung Reformation

réformation réforme

megreformálásreformálás

umbót

riforma

reformarbeid

pretvorenie

düzelmeıslahat

改进改革

reformation

[ˌrefəˈmeɪʃən] N → reformación f
the Reformation (Rel) → la Reforma

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Reformation

[ˌrɛfə^rˈmeɪʃ^ən] n
the Reformation (of the Church) → la Réforme

reformation

[ˌrɛfə^rˈmeɪʃ^ən] n (= changing, improvement) → réforme f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

reformation

n (of person) → Reformierung, Besserung f; the Reformation → die Reformation

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Reformation

[ˌrɛfəˈmeɪʃ/ən] n (Rel) the Reformation → la Riforma

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

reform

(rəˈfoːm) verb

1. to improve or remove faults from. The criminal's wife stated that she had made great efforts to reform her husband.

2. to give up bad habits, improve one's behaviour etc. He admitted that he had been a criminal, but said that he intended to reform.

noun

1. the act of improving. the reform of our political system.

2. an improvement. He intends to make several reforms in the prison system.

ˌreforˈmation (refə-) noun

reˈformed adjective

(negative unreformed) improved, especially in behaviour.

reˈformer noun

a person who wishes to bring about improvements. one of the reformers of our political system.

References in classic literature ?

It is good also, not to try experiments in states, except the necessity be urgent, or the utility evident; and well to beware, that it be the reformation, that draweth on the change, and not the desire of change, that pretendeth the reformation.

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(2) The purification and reformation of oneself for its reception, and (3) The improvement of the human race by striving for such purification.

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A JUDGE having sentenced a Malefactor to the penitentiary was proceeding to point out to him the disadvantages of crime and the profit of reformation.

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She wanted more vigorous measures, a more complete reformation, a quicker release from debt, a much higher tone of indifference for everything but justice and equity.

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The fabric of the Reformation, first undertaken in England upon a contracted basis, by a capricious and sanguinary tyrant, had been successively overthrown and restored, renewed and altered, according to the varying humors and principles of four successive monarchs.

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For although I recognized various difficulties in this undertaking, these were not, however, without remedy, nor once to be compared with such as attend the slightest reformation in public affairs.

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"In adopting this course, I am not casting off a guilty wife, but giving her a chance of amendment; and, indeed, difficult as the task will be to me, I shall devote part of my energies to her reformation and salvation."

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But time for reformation of his military manners was denied him: he was promptly arrested on complaint of the officer, tried by court- martial and sentenced to be shot.

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So far from complying with this their inclination, by which all hopes of reformation would have been abolished, and even the gate shut against her if her own inclinations should ever hereafter lead her to chuse the road of virtue, Mr Allworthy rather chose to encourage the girl to return thither by the only possible means; for too true I am afraid it is, that many women have become abandoned, and have sunk to the last degree of vice, by being unable to retrieve the first slip.

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In short, how do you know that such a reformation will be a benefit to man?

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Many were the inquiries she was eager to make of Miss Tilney; but so active were her thoughts, that when these inquiries were answered, she was hardly more assured than before, of Northanger Abbey having been a richly endowed convent at the time of the Reformation, of its having fallen into the hands of an ancestor of the Tilneys on its dissolution, of a large portion of the ancient building still making a part of the present dwelling although the rest was decayed, or of its standing low in a valley, sheltered from the north and east by rising woods of oak.

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Ryde insisted strongly on the doctrines of the Reformation, visited his flock a great deal in their own homes, and was severe in rebuking the aberrations of the flesh--put a stop, indeed, to the Christmas rounds of the church singers, as promoting drunkenness and too light a handling of sacred things.