reform

v. i. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ F. réformer, L. 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

The example alone of a vicious prince will corrupt an age; but that of a good one will not reform it. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To amend; correct; emend; rectify; mend; repair; better; improve; restore; reclaim. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. réforme. ] Amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved; reformation; as, reform of elections; reform of government. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Reformation; amendment; rectification; correction. See Reformation. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being reformed. Foxe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A reformado. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Sp., fr. reformar, L. reformare. SEe Reform, v. t. ] 1. A monk of a reformed order. [ Obs. ] Weever. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An officer who, in disgrace, is deprived of his command, but retains his rank, and sometimes his pay. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To affect reformation; to pretend to correctness. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. réformation, L. reformatio. ] 1. The act of reforming, or the state of being reformed; change from worse to better; correction or amendment of life, manners, or of anything vicious or corrupt; as, the reformation of manners; reformation of the age; reformation of abuses. [ 1913 Webster ]

Satire lashes vice into reformation. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically (Eccl. Hist.), the important religious movement commenced by Luther early in the sixteenth century, which resulted in the formation of the various Protestant churches. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Reform; amendment; correction; rectification. -- Reformation, Reform. Reformation is a more thorough and comprehensive change than reform. It is applied to subjects that are more important, and results in changes which are more lasting. A reformation involves, and is followed by, many particular reforms. “The pagan converts mention this great reformation of those who had been the greatest sinners, with that sudden and surprising change which the Christian religion made in the lives of the most profligate.” Addison. “A variety of schemes, founded in visionary and impracticable ideas of reform, were suddenly produced.” Pitt. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Forming again; having the quality of renewing form; reformatory. Good. [ 1913 Webster ]