different between pessimism vs meliorism

English

Etymology

From French pessimisme, from Latin pessimus (“worst”), superlative of malus (“bad”).As a doctrine, from German Pessimismus as used by the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer in 1819.

Noun

pessimism (usually uncountable, plural pessimisms)

1. A general belief that bad things will happen.
2. The doctrine that this world is the worst of all possible worlds.
3. (computing) The condition of being pessimal.

Antonyms

• optimism

Related terms

• pessimist
• pessimistic

Derived terms

• cultural pessimism
• ecopessimism

Translations

Further reading

• pessimism in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• pessimism in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• pessimism at OneLook Dictionary Search

Swedish

Noun

pessimism c

1. pessimism; a general belief that bad things will happen

Declension

Antonyms

• optimism

Related terms

• pessimist
• pessimistisk

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