amendment

noun

Simple meaning

Any alteration made or proposed to be made in a bill or motion that adds, changes, substitutes.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhmehndmuhnt

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US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

əˈmɛndmənt

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

In public bodies, any alteration made or proposed to be made in a bill or motion that adds, changes, substitutes, or omits.
An alteration or change for the better; correction of a fault or of faults; reformation of life by quitting vices.
especially us
An addition to and/or alteration to the Constitution.
A statement that is added to or revises or improves a proposal or document (a bill or constitution etc.)
That which is added; that which is used to increase or supplement something.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: A2 · Elementary
Frequency: Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: In public bodies, any alteration made or proposed to be made in a bill or motion that adds, changes, substitutes, or omits.

Used this way, amendment is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: Matter-of-fact
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use amendment

“A new amendment was added to the club's rules.”noun

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Public / alteration

amendment actamendment bill

Other combinations

first amendmentfourteenth amendmentfifth amendmentsecond amendmentlaw amendmenteighth amendment

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

eighteenth amendmentnounCompound term
An amendment to the Constitution of the United States adopted in 1920.
fifth amendmentnounCompound term
An amendment to the Constitution of the United States that imposes restrictions on the government's prosecution of persons accused of crimes.
first amendmentnounCompound term
An amendment to the Constitution of the United States guaranteeing the right of free expression.
fourteenth amendmentnounCompound term
An amendment to the Constitution of the United States adopted in 1868.
nineteenth amendmentnounCompound term
An amendment to the Constitution of the United States adopted in 1920.
take the fifth amendmentverbCompound term
Refuse to testify by invoking the Fifth Amendment, which states that nobody may be forced to testify as a witness against himself or herself.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

amendverbRelated term
Make amendments to.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.