different between optimism vs meliorism

English

Etymology

From French optimisme

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /??pt?m?z?m/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??pt?m?z?m/

Noun

optimism (usually uncountable, plural optimisms)

1. a tendency to expect the best, or at least, a favourable outcome

   I love her youth, her beauty and above all her optimism that everything will turn out fine.

2. the doctrine that this world is the best of all possible worlds
3. the belief that good will eventually triumph over evil

Antonyms

• pessimism

Derived terms

• optimist
• optimistic

Related terms

• optimal

Translations

Romanian

Etymology

From French optimisme

Noun

optimism n (uncountable)

1. optimism

Declension

English

Etymology

From Latin melior (“better”) +? -ism. Reportedly coined by British author George Eliot in her letters, published in 1877.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?mi?l????z(?)m/

Noun

meliorism (countable and uncountable, plural meliorisms)

1. The view or doctrine that the world can be improved through human effort (often understood as an intermediate outlook between optimism and pessimism). [from 19th c.]
   • 1966 May 6, "Forever Beginning," Time:

     At the convention, the official mood was traditional Methodist meliorism.

   • 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin 2003, page 371:

     Enclaves of meritocratic and virtuous sociability, the lodges exuded […] a thoroughgoing meliorism.

Derived terms

• meliorist
• melioristic
• melioristically

Translations

References

• “meliorism” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• "meliorism" at Rhymezone (Datamuse, 2006)
• Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)
• Dictionary of Philosophy, Dagobert D. Runes (editor), Philosophical Library, 1962; see: "Meliorism" by Archie J. Bahm, page 195

Romanian

Etymology

From French méliorisme

Noun

meliorism n (uncountable)

1. meliorism

Declension