Reform
Reform (r?*f?rm") , transitive verb
[French réformer, Latin reformare; pref. re- re- + formare to form, from forma form. See Form.]
To put into a new and improved form or condition; to restore to a former good state, or bring from bad to good; to change from worse to better; to amend; to correct; as, to reform a profligate man; to reform corrupt manners or morals.
The example alone of a vicious prince will corrupt an age; but that of a good one will not reform it.
Reform , intransitive verb
To return to a good state; to amend or correct one's own character or habits; as, a man of settled habits of vice will seldom reform.
Reform , noun
[French réforme.]
Amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved; reformation; as, reform of elections; reform of government.
Collocations (3)
Civil service reform , See under Civil.
Reform acts (Eng. Politics) , acts of Parliament passed in 1832, 1867, 1884, 1885, extending and equalizing popular representation in Parliament.
Reform school , a school established by a state or city government, for the confinement, instruction, and reformation of juvenile offenders, and of young persons of idle, vicious, and vagrant habits. [United States]