Search Result for "reformation": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (3)

1. 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;

2. 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]

3. rescuing from error and returning to a rightful course;
- Example: "the reclamation of delinquent children"
[syn: reclamation, reformation]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Re-formation \Re`-for*ma"tion\ (r?`f?r*m?"sh?n), n. The act of forming anew; a second forming in order; as, the reformation of a column of troops into a hollow square. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

reformation n 1: 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 2: 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] 3: rescuing from error and returning to a rightful course; "the reclamation of delinquent children" [syn: reclamation, reformation]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

116 Moby Thesaurus words for "reformation": Fabianism, 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, 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
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

REFORMATION, criminal law. The act of bringing back a criminal to such a sense of justice, so that he may live in society without any detriment to it. 2. The object of the criminal law ought to be to reform the criminal, while it protects society by his punishment. One of the best attempts at reformation is the plan of solitary confinement in a penitentiary. While the convict has time to reflect he cannot be injured by evil example or corrupt communication.