WordDictionary

Noun:

• Increase; growth; progress; advance.
• ''(Patent Laws):'' A useful addition to, or modification of, a machine, manufacture, or composition.
• ''(plural):'' Valuable additions or betterments, as buildings, clearings, drains, fences, etc., on premises.
• The act of improving; promotion in desirable qualities; progress toward what is better; melioration; as, the improvement of the mind, of land, roads, etc.
• The act of making profitable use or application of anything, or the state of being profitably employed; a turning to good account; practical application, as of a doctrine, principle, or theory, stated in a discourse.
• The state of being improved; betterment; advance; also, that which is improved; as, the new edition is an improvement on the old.