impropriation 
2. In /'.'</. K'cli'x. I it ii' : (ci) The act of putting 
the revenues of a benefice ini<> tin- h;niils of a 
layman or lay corporation. Imprnpriatlon, which 
was executed chiefly under Henry VIII., includes the \>- 
ligatiun to provide fur the prl I'm ln:uirr ..I' the spilitll;il 
duties of thu parish from the impropriated revenues. 
To make an Ini/'fupfiiition, there was to he the Consent 
of the Incumbent, the Patron, unit the King ; then 'twas 
continued liy the I Stlden, Table-Talk, p. 109. 
Appi'iipri:<tion is the term for the possession of a bone- 
lu'r liy a sph ilual cnrponition. - a for 1U pos- 
session by :i I:I\IH;UI. Encyc. Brit., AXI\ . -'":*. 
(ft) Thitt which is impropriated, as ecclesiasti- 
cal property. 
With im iirtipriatiutu he hath turned preaching into pri- 
vate masses. Latiiner, Uth Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1649. 
These improjtriatwntt were in no one instance. I be- 
lieve, restored to the parochial clergy. Httilam. 
impropriator (im-pro'pri-a-tor), n. [= Pg. im- 
propriudor, < ML. tmproprwor, < impnipriare, 
take as one's own : sec impropriato.] One who 
improprialc.s : especially, in Eng. ecclen. law, a 
laynuui who holds possession of the lands of 
the church or of an ecclesiastical living. 
While sacrilege abounds, while impropriators are seiz- 
ing each their four or six or more parishes, and giving the 
cure of souls to their grooms or balllfs. 
Bucer, In Dixon's Hist. Church of Eng., xvii. 
This design he thought would be more easily carried on 
if some rich iinjsropriators could be prevailed upon to re- 
store to the Church some part of her revenues, which they 
had too long retained. It. Helson, lip. Bull. 
impropriety (im-pro-pri'e-ti), .; pi. improprie- 
ties (-tiz). [< F. iiuprop'riete Pr. improprie- 
tat = Sp. impropiedad, impropriedad = Pg. ini- 
propriedade = It. impropieta, improprieta, < L. 
improprieta(t-)s, lnproprieta(t-)*, impropriety, 
< improprinx, inproprius, improper: see improp- 
er 1 . C'f. impropt T/;/.] 1 . The quality of being 
improper; unfitness or unsuitableness to char- 
acter, time, place, or circumstances; unseemli- 
ness : as, impropriety of language or behavior. 
Elizabeth, however, had never been blind to the impro- 
priety of her father's behavior as a husband. 
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, xlii. 
2. That which is improper; an erroneous or 
unsuitable expression, act, etc. 
This was the sum of my speech, delivered with great 
improprieties and hesitation. 
Swijl, Gulliver's Travels, ii. 3. 
= Syn. 1. Indelicacy, unseemliness. 2. Mistake, blunder, 
slip. Barbarism, Solecism, Impropriety. In treatises 
on rhetorical style these words have distinct meanings. 
" Purity . . . implies three things. Accordingly in three 
different ways it may be injured. First, the words used 
may not be English. This fault hath received from gram- 
marians the denomination of barbarism. Secondly, the 
construction of the sentence may not be in the English 
idiom. This hath gotten the name of solecism. Thirdly, 
the words ttnd phrases may not be employed to express 
the precise meaning which custom hath affixed to them. 
This Is termed impropriety." ((,'. Campbell, Phllos. of 
Rhetoric, ii. 3, Pref.) " In the forms of words, a violation 
of purity is a barbarism; In the constructions, a viola- 
tion of purity is a tolerixm; in the meanings of words and 
phrases, a violation of purity is an impropriety." (A. 
Phelm, Eng. Style, 1.) Examples of barbarisms in English 
are heft, tiled, proven, itystrmize ; of solecism, " Who did 
you see?" of improprieties, "There let him lay" (Byron, 
Chllde Harold, iv. 180), and the use of enormity for enor- 
mouxness, or of exceptionable for exceptional. 
improsperityt (im-pros-per'i-ti), n. [< OF. im- 
prosperite; as improsper-ous + -ity, after pros- 
JH I'ity.] Lack of prosperity or success. 
The prosperity or improsperity of a man, or his fate 
here, does not entirely depend upon his own prudence or 
impriidt 'lie. . Jortin, On Ecoles. Hist. 
improsperoust (im-pros'per-tis), n. [= F. im- 
liro-ijii-rr = Sp. improxpero = Pg. It. improspero, 
< L. improitpci; inproxper, not fortunate, < in- 
priv. + pronjier, fortunate: see prosperous.'] 
Unprosperous. 
Now senen revolving years are wholly run, 
since this improxperous voyage we begun. 
Dryden, .Kneid, v. 
improsperouslyt (im-pros'per-us-li), adr. Un- 
prospenmslv. 
The with'ring leaves inivroitp'routlit doth cast. 
Drayton, Legend of Matilda. 
improvability (im-prS-va-bil'i-ti), w. [< im- 
in-ni-iihlc : Bee -liiliti/.] The state or quality of 
iH'iii.u Improvable; susceptibility of Improve- 
ment, or of being made better, or of being used 
to advantage. 
improvable (im-prS'va-bl), a. [< improve*- + 
-able.] 1. Capable of being improved; sus- 
ceptible of Improvement ; that may become or 
be made better. 
Man is iiccomniodated with moral principles, improva- 
ble by the exercise of his faculties. 
Sir 31. Hale, Orig. of Mankind. 
I have a fine spread of improvable lands. 
Addao-n, Spectator. 
3021 
2. That may be used to advantage or for the 
bettering of anything. 
The unsay a of weaker beads afford improvable hints to 
better. Sir T. Browne. 
imprpvableneSSOiir-pro'va-bl-nes), w. Improv- 
ability, 
improvably (im-pro'vn-bli), adv. So as to be 
capable of Improvement 
improve 1 (im-prov'),r.; pret. ami pp. in/proved, 
ppr. iiitpruciiHj. [Early mod. K. i-mprmve, en- 
pfinre, < OF. (AF.) "emprower, a var., with pre- 
lix <,--, en- (ii- 2 ), of appnnrrr, npproucr, im- 
prove: see ogpnwA] I. trans. 1. To make 
better; ameliorate the condition of ; increase in 
value, excellence, capability, estimation, or the 
like; bring into a better, nigher, more desir- 
able, or more profitable state: as, to improve 
the mind by study; to improve the breeds of 
animals; to improve land by careful tillage. 
Where lands lye in common unfenced, if one man shall 
improve his land by fencing in several, and another shall 
not, he who shall so improre shall secure his lands against 
other men's cattle, and shall not compel such as joyn upon 
him to make any fence with him, except he shall so im- 
prove in several as the other doth. 
Mass. Colony Lairs, etc. (S 7, A. D. lin-Ji, quoted In Pick- 
[ertng. 
Nothing can be improved beyond its own species, or 
farther than its original nature will allow. 
Dryden, Albion and Albanius, Pref. 
My improved lot in the Town of Alexandria ... I give 
to her [Martha Washington) and to her heirs forever. 
Will of George Washington. 
2. To turn to advantage or account ; use profit- 
ably ; make use of : as, to improve an opportu- 
nity; to improve the occasion. 
His [Chaucer's] Englysh well alowed, 
So as it is enprowed, 
For as it la enployd. 
There is no English voyd. 
Skelton, Philip Sparow. 
Ann Cole . . . was taken with very strange fits, wherein 
her tongue was improved by a dtemon, to express things 
unknown to herself. C. Mather, Mag. Chris., vi. s. 
A day or two afterwards, three quails were caught in the 
public square, and the commandant improved the circum- 
stance by many quaint homilies. 
Motley, Dutch Republic, III. 600. 
It is quite as difficult to improve a victory as to win 
one. Prescott, I'erd. and Isa., Ii. Ii 
3. To increase in force or amount; intensify 
in any respect. [Rare.] 
A lake behind 
Improves the keenness of the northern wind. 
Pope, Moral Essays, II. 112. 
I fear we have not a little improved the wretched in- 
heritance of our ancestors. Bp. Porteous. 
Improvlng-furnace. Same as calciiiing-furnace (which 
see, under furnace). =Syn. 1. Correct, Better, etc. See 
amend. 
II. intrutts. 1. To grow better in any way; 
become more excellent or more favorable ; ad- 
vance in goodness, knowledge, wisdom, amount, 
value, etc.: as, his health is improving; the price 
of cotton improves daily. 
We take care to improve in our frugality and diligence. 
Bp. Atterlmry. 
He does not consider in whose hands his money will 
improve most, but where it will do most good. 
Steele, Spectator, No. 49. 
If we look back five hundred years or one hundred years 
or fifty years or any smaller number of years, we shall find 
that all Western governments have improved, while the 
Turk alone has gone back. 
E. A. Freeman, Amer. Lects., p. 419. 
2f. To increase ; grow. [Rare.] 
Domitian improved in cruelty toward the end of hia 
reign. Milne i; 
To improve on or upon, to make additions or amend- 
ments to ; bring nearer to perfection or completeness. 
As far as their history has been known, the son has 
regularly improKd upon the vices of the father, and has 
taken care to transmit them pure and undlminished into 
the bosom of his successors. Junius, Letters. 
improve-t (im-pr8v'), r. t. [A var. of approve 1 , 
by confusion with improve*.] To approve; 
prove; test. 
The most improy'd young soldier of seven kingdoms. 
Middleton and Rowley, Fair Quarrel, ii. 1. 
improved (im-prBv'), r. t. [< F. improurer = 
Sp. Pg. iniprornr = It. imiirovare, < L. improbarc, 
i 'ii/irobu re, disapprove: see improbate.] To dis- 
approve; censure; blame. 
None of the phisltions that have any judgement im- 
proveth [these medicines], bat they approve them to be 
good. Paynel's Button. (A'ares.) 
Uood father, said the king, sometimes you know I have 
desir'd 
You would improve his negligence, too oft to ease retlr d. 
Chapman, Iliad, x. 108. 
improve 1 * (im-priiv'l, r. t. [After improve^, < 
/- s + prove. Of. < >F. improvable, unprovable.] 
To disprove ; prove false ; refute. 
improvidence 
Erasmus hath improved many false books, which ye 
have feigned and put forth in the name of St. Jenum-, 
Augustine, Cyprian, Dionyne, and of oth.-r. 
<-, Am. to Sir T. .More, etc. (Parker Soc., ISM\ p. 135. 
improvement (im-prov'ment), n. [< OF. (AF.) 
i-m/ii'iHri-HH iii, i-Hin-iiirriiii n't, i >ni>ruement, /<; - 
ment, var. "t iiin-i>n-rmi-iit, etc.. improvement: 
see tippi'iin mi ni'- iinl mi prove^. ~\ 1. The act 
of improving or making better, or the state of 
being made better; advancement or increase 
in any good quality ; betterment. 
The improvement of the ground Is the most natural ob- 
taining of riches. Bacon, Riches. 
This gift of (Sod . . . was capable of improvement by 
Industry, and of defallance by neglect. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), IL 288. 
There is no faculty whatever that is not capable of im- 
provement. Huxley, Origin of Species, p. 146. 
2. Profitable use or employment; practical 
or advantageous application: as, the improve- 
ment of one's time. The concluding part of a dis- 
course or sermon, enforcing the practical use or applica- 
tion of the principles taught, was formerly called the im- 
provement. 
It only remains that I conclude with a few words of 
farther improvement. Doddridtje, Funeral Sermons, ii. 
They might be kept close together, both for more saftie 
and defence, and y better improvement of y gem-rail Im- 
ployments. Bradford, Plymouth Plantation, p. 168. 
I shall make some improvement of this doctrine. 
Tillotson. 
Improvement as applied to the conclusion of a sermon 
is now obsolete, and was always a technicality of the pul- 
pit only. A. Phelps, Eng. Style, p. 370. 
3. Use ; practice ; indulgence. [Rare.] 
The corruption of men's manners by the habitual im- 
provement of this vicious principle. South, Works, V. i. 
4. A betterment ; that by which the value or 
excellence of a thing is enhanced ; a beneficial 
or valuable change or addition, in patent law an 
improvement is an addition to or change in some specific 
machine or contrivance, by which the same effects are 
produced in a better manner than before, or new effects 
are produced. An Improvement In real property la some- 
thing done or added to it which increases its value, as cul- 
tivation or the erection of or addition to buildings. 
This place [Oethsemane] was formerly covered with 
olive-trees, but it is now without any improvement. 
Pocoeke, Description of the East, II. I. 24. 
But my aunt's bell rings for our afternoon's walk round 
the improvements. Goldsmith, She Stoops to Conquer, 1. 1. 
I know of only one example of its use !in England] in 
the purely American sense, and that is, " a very good tm- 
provement for a mill " in the "State Trials " (Speech of the 
Attorney-General in the Lady Ivy's case, 16S4). 
Loicell, Biglow Papers. Int. 
Policy of internal improvements, in U. 5. /./'., the 
policy of constructing or developing mads, canals, har- 
bors, rivers, etc., at national expense. The question at one 
tune (about 1820-60) entered largely intopolitics. and the 
policy was on principle opposed by the Democrats as an 
undue stretoh of the Constitution, and supported by the 
Whigs. Particular applications of it, however, have been 
favored by members of all parties, and for a long period 
large appropriations have been made, generally each year, 
for the improvement of rivers and harbors, and similar 
works. 
improver (im-pro'ver), . 1. One who or that 
which improves. 
Cold and nakedness, stripes and imprisonments, racks 
and torments, are these the improvers of an excellent con- 
stitution? Stillingfieet, Sermons, I. ix. 
Chalk Is a very great improver of most lands. 
Mortimer, Husbandry. 
2. One who Ubors at a trade for the purpose 
of increasing his knowledge or skill, and who ac- 
cepts the opportunity of improvement as com- 
pensation in whole or in part for services ren- 
dered. 3. A pad or cushion worn by women 
with the object of improving the figure or the 
hang of a dress ; a bustle. 
improvidedt (ira-pro-yi'ded), a. [< in- 3 + 
provided.] 1. Unprovided. 
He was In ieopardye of his lyfe, and all in<i>rouided for 
dread of death, coacted to take a small balynger, and to 
sayle into Fraunce. Hall. Edw. IV., an. 23. 
2. Unforeseen; unexpected. 
She suborned hath 
This crafty messenger with letters value, 
To worke new woe and iinprovided scath. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. xii. 34. 
improvidence (im-prov'i-dens), ii. [= OF. im- 
providence = Sp. (obs.) I?g. improvidencia = 
It. impmridema, < LL. improridoitia, inprovi- 
dentia, unforesightedness. < *improviden(t-)s, 
*inprorden(f-),unforesighted: see improeideitt. 
Cf. imprudence.] The quality of being improvi- 
dent; lack of providence or foresight; thrift- 
lessness. 
The house is gone ; 
And, through improvidence or want of love 
For ancient worth and honorable things, 
The spear and shield are vanished. 
Wordsworth, Excursion, vii. 
= Syn. Imprudence, carelessness, thoughtlessness, shift- 
lessness, unthrift. See /> //-.//<. 
