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# reformation

noun (the Reformation; a reformation, reformations)

«reformation» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (church, history) The Reformation was the time, about five hundred years ago in Europe, when some Christians broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and started Protestant churches. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reformation/#m1)
2. A reformation is a big change that makes something better, especially a person's behaviour or a system. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reformation/#m2)
3. (formal) The act of reforming something, putting it right again. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reformation/#m3)

### In the lessons

In history and religious education lessons the Reformation explains why there are Catholic and Protestant churches, and names like Martin Luther come up. In everyday or story language a «reformation» of a person means they changed their bad ways. Phrases: «the Protestant Reformation», «a complete reformation», «a reformation of character».

### Examples

- We learned that the Reformation split the Church in Western Europe. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reformation/#x1)
- Martin Luther is famous for starting the Reformation in Germany. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reformation/#x2)
- After the Reformation, many churches held services in English instead of Latin. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reformation/#x3)
- The new head teacher brought about a reformation of the school rules. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reformation/#x4)
- The story tells of a thief's reformation into an honest man. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reformation/#x5)
- The town hall needed a total reformation of the way it spent money. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reformation/#x6)
- Our RE teacher drew a timeline of the Reformation on the board. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reformation/#x7)

### Note

Capital R for the historical event: «the Reformation». As a common noun it is countable: «a reformation». Do not confuse with «re-formation» (forming again, as a band re-forming). Related: reform (verb and noun), reformer, Protestant. Christians of different churches tell the story of the Reformation in different ways; be fair to both sides.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «reformation» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/reformation/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«reformation» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/reformation.html) on Mova free.