amelcorn (amelkorn)

[Formerly also amell-corn, amil - corn; ameledt (am'eld), p. a. [Early mod. E. also ammeled, am melled, Achilles' arms, enlightened all with stars, And richly amell'd. Chapman , Iliad, xvi. 123. amelett, n. [ amelette , mod. omelette : see omelet.] A former spelling of omelet . ameli, n. Plural of amelus . amelia (a-mel'i-ä), n. [NL., Gr. a- priv. + μέλος, a limb.] In teratol ., absence of limbs. See amelus . ameliorable (a-me'lyo-ra-bl), a. [ ameliorate (a-me'lyo-rat), v.; pret. and pp. ameliorated, ppr. ameliorating. [ OF. ameillorer, F. améliorer = Pr. amilorar = It. ammigliorare ), become better, improve, amen In every human being there is a wish to ameliorate his own condition. Macaulay , Hist. Eng., iii. Let it be sufficient that you have in some slight degree ameliorated mankind, and do not think that amelioration a matter of small importance. Lecky, Europ. Morals, I. 266. =Syn. Amend, Improve, Better, etc. See amend. II. in trans. To grow better; meliorate. [Man] may have been temporarily driven out of the country [southern England) by the returning cold periods, but would find his way back as the climate ameliorated . Geikie, Geol. Sketches, p. 45.