| 释义 |
betterment|ˈbɛtəmənt|
[f. as prec. + -ment.]
1. The fact of making or becoming better; the condition of being better; amendment, improvement, amelioration, reformation.
1598Sylvester Agst. Libertie in Du Bartas (1608) 628 What may most availe unto his betterment. 1649W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1652) 250 Why we should not..raise our Flax to a great betterment too, I know not. 1669Woodhead St. Teresa i. 293, I find not this betterment of my health. 1865A. Cary Bal. & Lyrics 304 Each man should live for all men's betterment.
2. spec.
a. Improvement of property. (In U.S.)
1785in Vermont State P. (1823) 501 The value of the improvements and betterments made on such lands by such possessor or possessors. 1809Kendall Trav. III. lxxiv. 160 These men..demand either to be left owners of the soil, or paid for their betterments. 1830Galt Lawrie T. iii. i. (1849) 81 He sold off his land and betterments in Vermont.
b. Enhanced value (of real property) by reason of local improvements. So betterment tax, an assessment made on this.
1890Spectator 28 June 893/2 It was hoped that the principle of ‘betterment’ might become the means for raising considerable sums of money. 1890Contemp. Rev. May 644 The betterment tax. 1896J. H. B. Browne & Allan Compensation 683 ‘Betterment’ as a principle is only a proposal to tax the increment when it clearly and directly arises from an improvement carried out by a public authority and at the public expense. Ibid. 684 A betterment charge in respect of improvements effected by local authorities. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 182/2 The principle of ‘betterment’, according to which promoters would be allowed to set off against an owner's claim for compensation any enhancement of the value of his land by the use of the land taken by the promoters. 1960Spectator 15 July 88 The 1947 Silkin Town and Country Planning Act..introduced a system of development charges—or betterment tax, based on the value of a particular planning permission.
†3. = betterness 1; difference for the better. Obs.
1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. 35 It will appear there is no betterment 'twixt him [Pliable] and my self. |