Improving

How to spell improving

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce improving

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does improving mean?

1. verbMaking or becoming better in quality, value, or condition.

Improving in a sentence

• Her writing kept improving throughout the course.

• The company is focused on improving customer service this year.

Where does improving come from?

Language of origin: French

This word descends from the verb 'improve', which arrived in English through Anglo-Norman French as 'emprouer', meaning 'to turn something to profit' or 'to make advantageous use of'. That French verb was built from 'en-' (to put into) and 'prou', meaning 'profit' or 'gain', which traces back to the Late Latin 'prode', meaning 'advantageous' or 'beneficial'. For its first few centuries in English the sense was tightly financial: to improve land or property meant to develop it and make it more profitable. Only in the 1600s did the broader modern meaning, 'to make or become better', take firm hold. The spelling drifted toward '-ove' under the pull of the unrelated word 'prove', which is why the present participle keeps that silent-feeling 'o' and drops the final 'e' before the '-ing' ending.

How the word is built

• im- (variant of en-: to put into)
• prov (profit, advantage, from Latin prode)
• -ing (present participle)