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Improvement vs Better - What's the difference?

improvement | better |

As nouns the difference between improvement and better

is that improvement is the act of improving]]; advancement or growth; [[promote|promotion in desirable qualities; progress toward what is better; melioration; as, the improvement of the mind, of land, roads, etc while better is an entity, usually animate, deemed superior to another; one who has a claim to precedence; a superior or better can be .

As an adjective better is

(good).

As an adverb better is

.

As a verb better is

to improve.

improvement

English

(Webster 1913)

Alternative forms

* emprovement (obsolete)

Noun

(en noun)
  • The act of improving]]; advancement or growth; [[promote, promotion in desirable qualities; progress toward what is better; melioration; as, the improvement of the mind, of land, roads, etc.
  • * (Robert South)
  • I look upon your city as the best place of improvement .
  • * (Hugh Blair)
  • Exercise is the chief source of improvement in all our faculties.
  • * , chapter=19
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=70, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Engineers of a different kind , passage=Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.
  • The act of making profitable use or application of anything, or the state of being profitably employed; a turning to good account; practical application, as of a doctrine, principle, or theory, stated in a discourse.
  • * (Samuel Clarke)
  • A good improvement of his reason.
  • * (John Tillotson)
  • I shall make some improvement of this doctrine.
  • The state of being improved; betterment; advance; also, that which is improved; as, the new edition is an improvement on the old.
  • * (Joseph Addison)
  • The parts of Sinon, Camilla, and some few others, are improvements on the Greek poet.
  • Increase; growth; progress; advance.
  • * (Joseph Addison)
  • There is a design of publishing the history of architecture, with its several improvements and decays.
  • * (Robert South)
  • Those vices which more particularly receive improvement by prosperity.
  • (plural): Valuable additions or betterments, as buildings, clearings, drains, fences, etc., on premises.
  • (Patent Laws): A useful addition to, or modification of, a machine, manufacture, or composition.
  • Synonyms

    * improval

    better

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) better, bettre, betre, from (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (head)
  • (good)
  • * {{quote-video, date = 2002-11-01
  • , title = , episode = , number = 4 , passage = Badger:'' You think you're better''' than other people.
    ''Mal:'' Just the ones I'm '
    better than. }}
  • (well)
  • larger, greater
  • Derived terms
    * better dead than red * better half * better off * betterness * better part of * get better

    Adverb

    (head)
  • * 1901 , ,
  • “I’ve had enough of cycling with you chaps. I can spend my Sundays better than in tormenting cats and quarrelling and fighting.”
  • More, in reference to value, distance, time, etc.
  • ten miles and better
    Derived terms
    * had better * 'd better

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To improve.
  • * Wordsworth
  • Love betters what is best.
  • * Thackeray
  • He thought to better his circumstances.
  • * Macaulay
  • the constant effort of every man to better himself
  • To become better; to improve.
  • (Carlyle)
  • To surpass in excellence; to exceed; to excel.
  • * Hooker
  • The works of nature do always aim at that which can not be bettered .
  • To give advantage to; to support; to advance the interest of.
  • * Milton
  • Weapons more violent, when next we meet, / May serve to better us and worse our foes.
  • (slang) Had better.
  • You better do that if you know what's good for you.
    Derived terms
    * betterer * betterment
    Synonyms
    * See also

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An entity, usually animate, deemed superior to another; one who has a claim to precedence; a superior.
  • He quickly found Ali his better in the ring.
  • * Hooker
  • Their betters would hardly be found.

    Derived terms

    * get the better of

    Etymology 2

    Alternate pronunciation of (bettor) or modern formation from the verb to (bet).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Statistics

    * 1000 English basic words ----