Amend, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Amended; p. pr. & vb. n. Amending.]
Etymology: [F. amender, L. emendare; e(ex) + mendum, menda, fault, akin to Skr. minda personal defect. Cf. Emend, Mend.]
To change or modify in any way for the better; as, (a) by simply removing what is erroneous, corrupt, superfluous, faulty, and the like; (b) by supplying deficiencies; (c) by substituting something else in the place of what is removed; to rectify. Mar not the thing that can not be amended. Shak. An instant emergency, granting no possibility for revision, or opening for amended thought. De Quincey. We shall cheer her sorrows, and amend her blood, by wedding her to a Norman. Sir W. Scott. To amend a bill, to make some change in the details or provisions of a bill or measure while on its passage, professedly for its improvement.
Syn. -- To Amend, Emend, Correct, Reform, Rectify. These words agree in the idea of bringing things into a more perfect state. We correct (literally, make straight) when we conform things to some standard or rule; as, to correct proof sheets. We amend by removing blemishes, faults, or errors, and thus rendering a thing more a nearly perfect; as, to amend our ways, to amend a text, the draft of a bill, etc. Emend is only another form of amend, and is applied chiefly to editions of books, etc. To reform is literally to form over again, or put into a new and better form; as, to reform one's life. To rectify is to make right; as, to rectify a mistake, to rectify abuses, inadvertencies, etc.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Amend, v. i.
To grow better by rectifying something wrong in manners or morals; to improve. "My fortune . . . amends." Sir P. Sidney.
Shades of meaning
To amend is to change for the better by removing faults, errors, or defects, and always refers to that which at some point falls short of a standard of excellence. Advance, better, and improve may refer either to what is quite imperfect or to what has reached a high degree of excellence; we advance the kingdom of God, improve the minds of our children, better the morals of the people. But for matters below the point of ordinary approval we seldom use these words; we do not speak of bettering a wretched alley, or improving a foul sewer. There we use cleanse, purify, or similar words. We correct evils, reform abuses, rectify incidental conditions of evil or error; we ameliorate poverty and misery, which we can not wholly remove. We mend a tool, repair a building, correct proof; we amend character or conduct that is faulty, or a statement or law that is defective. A text, writing, or statement is amended by the author or by some adequate authority; it is often emended by conjecture. A motion is amended by the mover or by the assembly; a constitution is amended by the people; an ancient text is emended by a critic who believes that what seems to him the better reading is what the author wrote. Compare alleviate.