amendment

amendment
/euh mend"meuhnt/, n.
1. the act of amending or the state of being amended.
2. an alteration of or addition to a motion, bill, constitution, etc.
3. a change made by correction, addition, or deletion: The editors made few amendments to the manuscript.
4. Hort. a soil-conditioning substance that promotes plant growth indirectly by improving such soil qualities as porosity, moisture retention, and pH balance.
[1250-1300; ME < OF amendement. See AMEND, -MENT]

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      in government and law, an addition or alteration made to a constitution, statute, or legislative bill or resolution. Amendments can be made to existing constitutions and statutes and are also commonly made to bills in the course of their passage through a legislature. Since amendments to a national constitution can fundamentally change a country's political system or governing institutions, such amendments are usually submitted to an exactly prescribed procedure.

      The best-known amendments are those that have been made to the U.S. Constitution; Article V makes provision for the amendment of that document. The first 10 amendments that were made to the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights. (See Rights, Bill of.) A total of 27 amendments have been made to the Constitution. For an amendment to be made, two-thirds of the members of each house of Congress must approve it, and three-fourths of the states must ratify it. Congress decides whether the ratification will be by state legislatures or by popularly elected conventions in the several states (though in only one instance, that of the Twenty-First Amendment, which repealed prohibition, was the convention system used). In many U.S. states, proposed amendments to a state constitution must be approved by the voters in a popular referendum.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • amendment — amend·ment n 1: an act of amending; esp: an alteration in wording amendment s to cure the defect in the pleading 2: an alteration proposed or put into effect by legislative or constitutional procedure the Congress...shall propose amendment s to… …   Law dictionary

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  • Amendment — may refer to:*A change made to a pending motion or bill by a motion to amend *A change made to a previously adopted law or motion *A change made to a contract *Constitutional amendment, a change made to a written constitution *Soil conditioner,… …   Wikipedia

  • Amendment —   [ə mendmənt, englisch »Berichtigung«] das, s/ s, Zusatz, ergänzender oder abändernder Artikel zur Verfassung der USA von 1787 (bisher 26 Amendments) sowie zu den Verfassungen der Einzelstaaten. Die Amendments werden chronologisch an den… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • amendment — (n.) early 13c., betterment, improvement; c.1300, of persons, correction, reformation, from O.Fr. amendment, from amender (see AMEND (Cf. amend)). Sense expanded to include correction of error in a legal process (c.1600) and alteration of a writ… …   Etymology dictionary

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  • Amendment — A*mend ment, n. [F. amendement, LL. amendamentum.] 1. An alteration or change for the better; correction of a fault or of faults; reformation of life by quitting vices. [1913 Webster] 2. In public bodies; Any alternation made or proposed to be… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • amendment — [ə mend′mənt] n. [ME < OFr amendement < amender, AMEND] 1. a change for the better; improvement 2. a correction of errors, faults, etc. 3. a) a revision or addition proposed or made in a bill, law, constitution, etc. b) the process of… …   English World dictionary

  • amendment — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ important, major, significant ▪ A major amendment was introduced into the legislation. ▪ minor, slight, small ▪ …   Collocations dictionary

  • amendment — A revision to a document. A UCC financing statement can be amended by filing a designated amendment form, usually UCC 3. American Banker Glossary * * * amend a‧mend [əˈmend] verb [transitive] to make small changes to a law or a document, for… …   Financial and business terms

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