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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Re-formation \Re`-for*ma"tion\ (r?`f?r*m?"sh?n), n.
The act of forming anew; a second forming in order; as, the
reformation of a column of troops into a hollow square.
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Reformation \Ref`or*ma"tion\ (r?f`?r*m?"sh?n), n. [F.
r['e]formation, L. reformatio.]
1. The act of reforming, or the state of being reformed;
change from worse to better; correction or amendment of
life, manners, or of anything vicious or corrupt; as, the
reformation of manners; reformation of the age;
reformation of abuses.
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Satire lashes vice into reformation. --Dryden.
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2. Specifically (Eccl. Hist.), the important religious
movement commenced by Luther early in the sixteenth
century, which resulted in the formation of the various
Protestant churches.
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Syn: Reform; amendment; correction; rectification.

Usage: {Reformation}, {Reform}. Reformation is a more
thorough and comprehensive change than reform. It is
applied to subjects that are more important, and
results in changes which are more lasting. A
reformation involves, and is followed by, many
particular reforms. "The pagan converts mention this
great reformation of those who had been the greatest
sinners, with that sudden and surprising change which
the Christian religion made in the lives of the most
profligate." --Addison. "A variety of schemes, founded
in visionary and impracticable ideas of reform, were
suddenly produced." --Pitt.
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