Reformer

How to spell reformer

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce reformer

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does reformer mean?

1. nounA person who works to improve a system, institution, or society by correcting faults or abuses.

Reformer in a sentence

• The prison reformer spent decades campaigning for humane conditions.

• As a tax reformer, she pushed for a simpler and fairer code.

Where does reformer come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word combines the verb reform with the agent suffix -er, so it literally names a person who 'forms again'. The root reaches back to the Latin reformare, built from re- meaning 'again' and formare meaning 'to shape or fashion', which itself came from forma, the Latin word for a shape, mould, or pattern. English took reform through Old French in the 1300s, at first with the sense of restoring something to its proper or original condition. By the time -er was attached, the word had shifted toward improving institutions and society by removing abuses, and a reformer became a person who campaigns for that change. The spelling stays transparent once you see the three parts, re plus form plus er, with no hidden letters or doubling to trip you up.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• form (shape, from Latin forma)
• -er (agent noun suffix: one who does)