6) The process when words improve in meaning is called elevation or amelioration.

Words often rise from humble beginnings to positions of greater importance. Such changes are not always easy to account for in detail, but, on the whole, social changes are of the very first importance with words that acquire better meanings.

Some highly complementary words were originally applied to things of comparatively slight importance, e.g. “fame” meant originally “only report”, “common talk”, “rumour”.

“Splendid” goes back to the simple meaning “bright”. The sense change in the words “splendid” (Lat. “splendidus”) and fame (Lat. “fama”) is recorded already in classical Latin.

The following list includes some familiar examples of the process of elevation of meaning:

“Minister” — now means an important public official, but in earlier times meant merely “servant”.

“Comrade” — from the Spanish for “roommate”.

“Marshal” — a German word meaning “horse-servant” was adopted into French from Old High German.

“Chiffon” — meant ”a rag” in French.

“Smart” — now synonymous with “chic”, but in earlier times meant “causing pain”.

“Nimble” — originally meant “adroit in stealing”, now means “agile”.

The word “luxury” originally meant “lasciviousness” or ”lust”. This then got watered down to refer to an indulgence in whatever is classy or expensive. Today, the strongly negative connotations are largely lost and it is used to mean something like “refined enjoyment”.

The flavour of the word — its connotation — is often affected by social backgrounds. In early time, the term actor was uncomplimentary. Actors were classed as rogues and vagabonds in Shakespeare's day but at the present time the stage has great prestige, and the word actor has undergone elevation in meaning.

Along with elevation of meaning there exists the reverse process, that of degradation (or pejoration) of meaning.

Pejoration (or degradation) is the process whereby, for one reason or another, a word falls into disrepute. Words once respectable may become less respectable. Some words reach such a low point that it is considered improper to use them at all.

Instances are not few when the degraded meaning of the word has ousted its original signification.

Here are some common English words originally neutral but now used in disparagement (that is, with an unfavorable implication):

“Vulgar” (Lat. ”vulgaris”; “vulgus” — “the common people”). — originally meant “common”, ordinary.

“Gossip” — originally meant “a god parent”.

“Insane” (Lat. “insanus”) — originally meant: “not well”.

“Idiot” (from Greek “idiotes”)—originally meant “a private person”.

A “villain” (Lat. “villanus”), for example, was originally “a man who worked on a farm or villa”. Such a person was felt by his social superiors to have a low sense of morality, and the word villain, at first a term implying nothing unfavourable, came to be a term of reproach. These transformations of meaning reflect class relations in the country, the attitude of the ruling classes towards the toilers and social injustice in bourgeois society. So this word has sustained strong pejorisation: from “farm servant” it gradually passed to its present meaning “scoundrel”.

In the 15th to 18th centuries, “silly” meant ”deserving of pity, compassion, or sympathy”. In the 16th century, the meaning “weak and feeble or insignificant” as well as “unlearned, unsophisticated” also began to develop. This of course led to today’s meaning “foolish”. If you know Danish and German, you might recognize the cognate words “salig” and “selig”. (Cognate words are related to each other in terms of derivation). Not surprisingly, Danish and German have had the meanings developing separately: the Danish means something like happy for religious reasons (like blessedness) and the German can mean happy because of drunkenness!