From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Progressive \Pro*gress"ive\, a. [Cf. F. progressif.]
[1913 Webster]
1. Moving forward; proceeding onward; advancing; evincing
progress; increasing; as, progressive motion or course; --
opposed to {retrograde}.
[1913 Webster]
2. Improving; as, art is in a progressive state.
[1913 Webster]
3. (U. S. History) Of or pertaining to the Progressive party.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
4. Favoring improvement, change, progress, or reform,
especially in a political context; -- used of people.
Contrasted with {conservative}.
[PJC]
Note: The term progressive is sometimes used to describe the
views of a politician, where {liberal} might have been
used at one time, in communities where the term liberal
has come to connote extreme views.
[PJC]
5. Disposed toward adopting new methods in government or
education, holding tolerant and liberal ideas, and
generally favoring improvement in civic life; -- of towns
and communities.
[PJC]
{Progressive euchre} or {Progressive whist}, a way of playing
at card parties, by which after every game, the losers at
the first table go to the last table, and the winners at
all the tables, except the first, move up to the next
table.
{Progressive muscular atrophy} (Med.), a nervous disorder
characterized by continuous atrophy of the muscles.
[1913 Webster] -- {Pro*gress"ive*ly}, adv. --
{Pro*gress"ive*ness}, n.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
progressiveness
n 1: advancement toward better conditions or policies or methods
[syn: {progressiveness}, {progressivity}]
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