- reformation
- reformation, reform can both denote a making better or a giving of a new and improved form or character and are sometimes interchangeable without loss{
the reformation of a criminal
}{the reform of society
}Reformation is the more usual term as a designation of a movement that has brought about many revolutionary amendments or improvements, especially in morals or religious practices{the Protestant Reformation
}It is also appropriate when the idea of making over so as to eradicate defects is stressed{not directed to the reformation of what was ill— Belloc
}{never came reformation in a flood, with such a heady currance, scouring faults— Shak.
}{it is the moral basis of this reformation that I wish to lay— Hobson
}Reform, on the other hand, is more usual as a designation of an attempt to remove abuses, correct corrupt practices, or to make changes for the better{hostile to all persons advocating reform
}{Boeotia, choose reform or civil war!— Shelley
}{a wave of municipal reform had passed over it— Ellis
}Reform also applies, as reformation does not, to a particular or specific amendment, whether achieved or proposed, as a measure of reform{initiate sweeping reforms in the government
}{a reform worthy of a good prince and of a good parliament— Macaulay
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
