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Meaning of "pejoration" in the English dictionary

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DICTIONARY
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PRONUNCIATION OF PEJORATION

pejoration  [ˌpiːdʒəˈreɪʃən] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF PEJORATION

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Pejoration is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES PEJORATION MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Semantic change

Semantic change is the evolution of word usage — usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from the original usage. In diachronic linguistics, semantic change is a change in one of the meanings of a word. Every word has a variety of senses and connotations, which can be added, removed, or altered over time, often to the extent that cognates across space and time have very different meanings. The study of semantic change can be seen as part of etymology, onomasiology, semasiology, and semantics.

Definition of pejoration in the English dictionary

The definition of pejoration in the dictionary is semantic change whereby a word acquires unfavourable connotations. Other definition of pejoration is the process of worsening; deterioration.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH PEJORATION


acceleration
ækˌsɛləˈreɪʃən
collaboration
kəˌlæbəˈreɪʃən
configuration
kənˌfɪɡjʊˈreɪʃən
consideration
kənˌsɪdəˈreɪʃən
cooperation
kəʊˌɒpəˈreɪʃən
corporation
ˌkɔːpəˈreɪʃən
declaration
ˌdɛkləˈreɪʃən
decoration
ˌdɛkəˈreɪʃən
deliberation
dɪˌlɪbəˈreɪʃən
duration
djʊˈreɪʃən
expiration
ˌɛkspɪˈreɪʃən
exploration
ˌɛkspləˈreɪʃən
federation
ˌfɛdəˈreɪʃən
generation
ˌdʒɛnəˈreɪʃən
incorporation
ɪnˌkɔːpəˈreɪʃən
inspiration
ˌɪnspɪˈreɪʃən
operation
ˌɒpəˈreɪʃən
preparation
ˌprɛpəˈreɪʃən
restoration
ˌrɛstəˈreɪʃən
separation
ˌsɛpəˈreɪʃən

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE PEJORATION

pegmatitic
Pegu
peh
Pehlevi
Pei
peignoir
Peipus
Peiraeus
peirastic
peirastically
Peirce
peize
pejorate
pejorative
pejoratively
pekan
peke

WORDS THAT END LIKE PEJORATION

accreditation
action
administration
animation
application
association
certification
citation
combination
communication
confirmation
conversation
creation
destination
documentation
education
evaluation
excitation
formation
foundation
hesitation

Synonyms and antonyms of pejoration in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «pejoration» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF PEJORATION

Find out the translation of pejoration to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of pejoration from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «pejoration» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

pejoration
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

pejoration
570 millions of speakers

English

pejoration
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

pejoration
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

pejoration
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

pejoration
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

pejoration
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

pejoration
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

péjoration
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Penindasan
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Pejorisierung
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

pejoration
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

pejoration
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Pejorasi
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

pejoration
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

தன்மையில் குறைவு
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

पेझोरेशन
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

pejoration
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

pejoration
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

pejoration
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

pejoration
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

pejoration
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

pejoration
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

pejoration
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

pejoration
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

pejoration
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of pejoration

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «PEJORATION»

The term «pejoration» is used very little and occupies the 183.748 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Rarely used
14
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «pejoration» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of pejoration
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «pejoration».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «PEJORATION» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «pejoration» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «pejoration» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about pejoration

EXAMPLES

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «PEJORATION»

Discover the use of pejoration in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to pejoration and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
The Origins and Development of the English Language
Politician has had a downhill development, or pejoration (from Latin pejor 'worse' ). So has knave (OE cnafa), which used to mean simply 'boy'—it is cognate with German Knabe, which retains the earlier meaning. It came to mean 'serving boy'  ...
John Algeo, 2009
2
Language History: An Introduction
PEJORATION AND MELIORATION 64. Words will gain or lose negative or positive connotations with or without changes in other semantic features. These are sometimes treated as special phenomena— pejoration ('getting worse') and ...
Andrew L. Sihler, 2000
3
A Biography of the English Language
Amelioration and Pejoration Examples of amelioration and pejoration are harder to pinpoint, partly because we cannot always be sure how pejorative or nonpejorative a word was, partly because much of the vocabulary of a language is not ...
C.M. Millward, Mary Hayes, 2011
4
English Words: History and Structure
Pejoration/degeneration. A development of the meaning in the opposite direction, which is perhaps more frequent, is called pejoration (from Lat. pejor 'worse'). Hussy used to mean 'housewife.' Demagogue in ancient Greece meant 'a leader  ...
Donka Minkova, Robert P. Stockwell, 2009
5
An Introduction to Historical Linguistics
11.1. BASIC. MEANING. CHANGES. 11.1.1. Amelioration. and. Pejoration. Words can change their connotation over time. Some words acquire positive connotations, while others acquire negative ones. The word silly, for example, originally ...
Terry Crowley, Claire Bowern, 2010
6
Understanding Language Change
7.2.3.2 Pejoration and amelioration The attitude of speakers and hearers to particular words may also change, as the value assigned to the referents of words alters. Pejoration, a downward move in evaluative attitude, is frequently due to ...
April M. S. McMahon, 1994
7
Language Change: Progress Or Decay?
Knave illustrated the opposite, pejoration, moving from 'male child' to 'male servant' to 'rascal'. Or take the word clothes, once the plural of cloth. This has extended its range to cover garments made from wool and other fabrics. The word ...
Jean Aitchison, 2013
8
The History of English: A Student's Guide
Conversely, pejoration involves a downward shift in evaluative attitude, and has occurred in English with words such as silig 'blessed', which is quite different from its modern counterpart silly, and vulgar, which today has negative associations ...
Gurmit Singh, Ishtla Singh, 2013
9
English Vocabulary Elements
The opposite of melioration, pejoration, is more common. Silly has had a history almost the opposite of nice: it originally meant 'blessed'. Pejoration often goes hand in hand with euphemism, the process of using a new word to refer to an item ...
Keith Denning, Brett Kessler, William Ronald Leben, 2007
10
English Lexicogenesis
In Basque, urdin came to be restricted to 'blue' with the borrowing of berde 'green' and gris 'grey' from Spanish (verde, gris). More examples are discussed in Fritz ( 1998: 139f.). 8.6 Melioration and pejoration As a special kind of restriction, ...
D. Gary Miller, 2014

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «PEJORATION»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term pejoration is used in the context of the following news items.
1
LETTER: Seeing red over policy
... review could see SA lose on trade benefits, July 21) is a pejoration of our country's free-trade policies and a hindrance to normal business. «BDlive, Jul 15»
2
2015: Judiciary, Lawyers And Law Schools At The Precipice
The civility symposium brought together lawyers, judges, and professors from all over the United States to discuss the pejoration of the noble ... «Law360, Jan 15»
3
The CPP's Greenstreet hurts feelings but opens eyes
But their pejoration is vain. I wish to advise President Mahama and his team to see Greenstreet's comments as a precursor to the issues that ... «Vibe Ghana, Dec 14»
4
Hard time accepting "Redskins" as a slur
In general, scholars agree that the term was originally neutral, but many say it has become negative through a process called “pejoration. «The Elkhart Truth, Dec 14»
5
Nothing wrong with the word “feminism”
Linguists refer to this process as “pejoration.” “If a word that refers to something always appears in sentences where that thing is framed ... «Raw Story, Nov 14»
6
Why We Have So Many Terms For 'People Of Color'
Linguists refer to this process as "pejoration." "If a word that refers to something always appears in sentences where that thing is framed ... «NPR, Nov 14»
7
Placing the Sardar Ahead of Indira
It is a wonder that such expressions and such semi-disguised pejoration are never deployed for Indira and her family. This is not to suggest that ... «NDTV, Oct 14»
8
Is The Stealth Genre Dying?
There's a process in English Language called pejoration, whereby a positive word gradually becomes negative over time (or through extended ... «n3rdabl3, Oct 14»
9
Why there are too many women doctors, women MPs, and women …
... as an adjective is “somewhere between a hypercorrection and pejoration, plus a dollop of condescending sexism masquerading as chivalry. «The Guardian, Oct 14»
10
Terror in every bomb
Words like "demagogue, awful" and "artificial" are instances of the process, "pejoration", where meaning gets downgraded. The 17th century ... «Chandigarh Tribune, May 14»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Pejoration [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/pejoration>. Oct 2026 ».
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