'Reformation' definitions:
Definition of 'reformation'
From: WordNet
noun
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
noun
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 [syn: Reformation, Protestant Reformation]
noun
Rescuing from error and returning to a rightful course; "the reclamation of delinquent children" [syn: reclamation, reformation]
Definition of 'Reformation'
From: GCIDE
- Reformation \Ref`or*ma"tion\ (r?f`?r*m?"sh?n), n. [F. r['e]formation, L. reformatio.]
- 1. The act of reforming, or the state of being reformed; change from worse to better; correction or amendment of life, manners, or of anything vicious or corrupt; as, the reformation of manners; reformation of the age; reformation of abuses. [1913 Webster]
- Satire lashes vice into reformation. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Specifically (Eccl. Hist.), the important religious movement commenced by Luther early in the sixteenth century, which resulted in the formation of the various Protestant churches. [1913 Webster]
- Syn: Reform; amendment; correction; rectification.
- Usage: Reformation, Reform. Reformation is a more thorough and comprehensive change than reform. It is applied to subjects that are more important, and results in changes which are more lasting. A reformation involves, and is followed by, many particular reforms. "The pagan converts mention this great reformation of those who had been the greatest sinners, with that sudden and surprising change which the Christian religion made in the lives of the most profligate." --Addison. "A variety of schemes, founded in visionary and impracticable ideas of reform, were suddenly produced." --Pitt. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'reformation'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abject apology,
- about-face,
- accommodation,
- adaptation,
- adjustment,
- adoption,
- alteration,
- amelioration,
- amendment,
- apology,
- apostasy,
- betterment,
- break,
- change,
- change of allegiance,
- change of heart,
- change of mind,
- changeableness,
- circumcision,
- constructive change,
- continuity,
- conversion,
- deathbed repentance,
- defection,
- degeneration,
- degenerative change,
- deterioration,
- deviation,
- difference,
- discontinuity,
- divergence,
- diversification,
- diversion,
- diversity,
- extremism,
- Fabianism,
- fitting,
- flip-flop,
- gradual change,
- gradualism,
- heartfelt apology,
- improvement,
- instauration,
- mea culpa,
- melioration,
- meliorism,
- mitigation,
- modification,
- modulation,
- new birth,
- new life,
- overthrow,
- penance,
- penitence,
- progressivism,
- qualification,
- radical change,
- radical reform,
- radicalism,
- re-creation,
- reactivation,
- realignment,
- rebirth,
- reclamation,
- reconstitution,
- reconversion,
- recrudescence,
- redeemedness,
- redemption,
- redesign,
- redintegration,
- reenactment,
- reestablishment,
- reform,
- reformism,
- regeneration,
- rehabilitation,
- reinstatement,
- reinstation,
- reinstitution,
- reinvestiture,
- reinvestment,
- remaking,
- renascence,
- renewal,
- repentance,
- replacement,
- reshaping,
- restitution,
- restoration,
- restructuring,
- reversal,
- reversion,
- revisionism,
- revival,
- revivification,
- revolution,
- saeta,
- salvation,
- second birth,
- shift,
- spiritual purification,
- sudden change,
- switch,
- total change,
- transformation,
- transition,
- turn,
- turnabout,
- upheaval,
- utopianism,
- variation,
- variety,
- violent change,
- wearing a hairshirt,
- worsening
Words containing 'Reformation'
- Reform,
- Reformable,
- Reformalize,
- Reformative,
- Reformed,
- Reformer,
- Reformly,
- reformism,
- Reform acts,
- Reform school,
- Reform, AL,
- Reformed Presbyterians,
- counter reformation,
- land reform,
- protestant reformation,
- reform jew,
- reform judaism,
- reform movement,
- social reformer,
- Civil Service Reform,
- evangelical and reformed church,
- reform-minded,
- self-reformation,
- birth-control reformer