20090930每日一词

junli

ameliorate

\uh-MEEL-yuh-rayt\ , transitive verb:
1.To make better; to improve.intransitive
verb: 1.To grow better.
及物动词 vt. 不及物动词 vi.
1.改善;改良

Quotes:
Among the pressures provoking these distresses were a father's financial inadequacy and a growing awareness that, by finding employment himself, he could ameliorate the family's exiguous circumstances.
~Terence Brown, The Life of W. B. Yeats: A Critical Biography
In the socially fluid and (until the crash of 1837) economically expansive 1830s, the legislature frequently appropriated public money to investigate social problems, forestall dependency, and ameliorate human suffering.
~Elisabeth Gitter, The Imprisoned Guest

Origin:
Ameliorate is derived from Latin ad + meliorare, "to make better," from melior, "better."