reformation

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 →
2. A reformation is a big change that makes something better, especially a person's behaviour or a system. tree →
3. (formal) The act of reforming something, putting it right again. tree →

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 →
• Martin Luther is famous for starting the Reformation in Germany. tree →
• After the Reformation, many churches held services in English instead of Latin. tree →
• The new head teacher brought about a reformation of the school rules. tree →
• The story tells of a thief's reformation into an honest man. tree →
• The town hall needed a total reformation of the way it spent money. tree →
• Our RE teacher drew a timeline of the Reformation on the board. tree →

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.