different between improvement vs kaizen

English

Alternative forms

• emprovement (obsolete)

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman emprouwement; synchronically improve +? -ment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?p?u?vm?nt/
• Hyphenation: im?prove?ment

Noun

improvement (countable and uncountable, plural improvements)

1. The act of improving; advancement or growth; a bettering
   • November 9, 1662, Robert South, Of the Creation of Man in the Image of God

     I look upon your city as […] the best place of improvement.

   • 1783, Hugh Blair, Lectures on Rhetoric and Belles Lettres

     Exercise is the chief source of improvement in all our faculties.
2. The act of making profitable use or application of anything, or the state of being profitably employed; practical application, for example of a doctrine, principle, or theory, stated in a discourse.
   • 1705, Samuel Clarke, Evidences of Natural and Revealed Religion

     good improvement of his reason.

   • 1681, John Tillotson, A sermon preached at the funeral of the Reverend Mr Thomas Gouge

     I shall make some improvement of this doctrine.

3. The state of being improved; betterment; advance
4. Something which is improved

   • The parts of Sinon, Camilla, and some few others, are improvements on the Greek poet.

5. Increase; growth; progress; advance.

   • Those vices which more particularly receive improvement by prosperity.

6. (in the plural) Valuable additions or betterments, for example buildings, clearings, drains, fences, etc., on premises.
7. (Patent Laws): A useful addition to, or modification of, a machine, manufacture, or composition.

Synonyms

• improval, amelioration

Antonyms

• worsening
• deterioration
• disimprovement

Hyponyms

• self-improvement

Derived terms

• disimprovement

See also

• uplift

Translations

References

improvement in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English improvement.

Noun

improvement m (invariable)

1. (rare) improvement

   Synonyms: miglioramento, perfezionamento

English

Etymology

From Japanese ?? (kaizen ????), from Middle Chinese ?? (kój-d?jén) (compare Mandarin g?ishàn ??), from Old Chinese ?? (*q???-?en? "to correct errors"), from ? ("to change") + ? ("good").

Introduced to English in 1959 by Boyé Lafayette De Mente in his book Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ka??z?n/, /?ka??z?n/

Noun

kaizen (countable and uncountable, plural kaizens)

1. A Japanese business practice of continuous improvement in performance and productivity.
2. (by extension) Continuous improvement generally. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Translations

Verb

kaizen (third-person singular simple present kaizens, present participle kaizening, simple past and past participle kaizened)

1. (transitive, business) To apply continuous improvement to (a task, or the worker who performs it).

See also

• quality circle

Japanese

Romanization

kaizen

1. R?maji transcription of ????