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| Question | Answer |
| Amelioration | words take on a more positive meaning e.g. pretty (used to mean sly or cunning, now means beautiful) |
| Pejoration | the opposite of amelioration, words take on a more negative meaning than they did before |
| Weakening | A word's strength changes over time. For example, 'soon' used to mean instantly, now it means any time nearby |
| Narrowing | words become more specific over time (e.g. deer used to mean various different animals and now means just one) |
| Broadening | words acquire new, more general meanings over time (e.g. mouse used to just mean the rodent, but now includes the computer mouse) |
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