aprimorate

Borrowed from Portuguese aprimorar + English -ate (suffix forming verbs), probably a mistranslation by Portuguese speakers. Aprimorar is derived from a- (prefix forming verbs meaning ‘to cause or make [the nouns to which it is attached]’) + primor (“excellence, perfection”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- (“before; in front”)) + -ar (suffix forming impersonal infinitives of regular first-conjugation verbs). The earliest known use of the English word is in a 1988 Brazilian thesis (see the quotation), although it has likely been re-formed independently on multiple occasions.

The alternative spelling apprimorate is due to the word’s similarity to verbs like approve, or under the assumption that the word was derived from Latin.^[1]

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: əprĭm′ərāt′, IPA^(key): /əˈpɹɪməˌɹeɪt/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: apri‧mor‧ate

aprimorate (third-person singular simple present aprimorates, present participle aprimorating, simple past and past participle aprimorated)

1. (transitive, non-native speakers' English) To raise (something) to a better state; to elevate, to improve, to refine.

   Synonyms: sublimate; see also Thesaurus:improve

   • 1988 August, Luiz Carlos de Mesquita, “Abstract [English translation]”, in O Ensino Superior de Ciências Contábeis nos Estados de Mato Grosso e Mato Grosso do Sul: Estudo de Casos [Higher Education in Accounting Sciences in the States of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul: A Case Study]‎^[2] (Master of Accounting Sciences thesis), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Instituto Superior de Estudos Contábeis, published 23 January 2012, archived from the original on 23 January 2025, page ix:

     Before the low levels of satisfaction with the infrastructure of the courses, with the curriculum and development of the curriculum and with the teaching group [staff], the results of this research showed the needy^{[sic – meaning need]} for an reestructuration of the curriculum^{[sic – meaning a curricular restructuring]} in all those courses, and a reciclage^{[sic – meaning retraining]} of the teaching group, in order to apprimorate the teaching of accountancy in those states.

   • 2003 March, Marcio Antonio da Silva Pimentel, “Abstract [English translation]”, in Controle da Dosagem de Metabissulfito de Sódio em Efluentes Contendo Cromo Hexavalente [Control of Sodium Metabisulfite Dosage in Effluents Containing Hexavalent Chromium]‎^[3] (unpublished doctoral dissertation), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério de Saúde, archived from the original on 11 August 2024, page vii:

     The present work aimed to aprimorate sodium metabisulfite's dosage in influents containing hexavalent chromium in acid medium (pH = 2), defining Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) control^{[sic – meaning estimating the redox potential]} (set point) and [the] most adequate dosage criterium to be used to produce wastewater with concentrations of hexavalent chromium equal to 0.01, 0.1, 0.5 e^{[sic – meaning and]} 1.5 ppm.

   • 2016, Inês Mendes Sardo, “Conclusion and Future Perspectives”, in Avaliação de Potenciais Agentes Anti-tumorais para Terapia Fotodinâmica [Assessment of Potential Anti-tumour Agents for Photodynamic Therapy]‎^[4] (Master of Molecular and Cellular Biology dissertation), Aveiro, Centro Region, Portugal: Departamento de Biologia, Universidade de Aveiro, published 15 December 2018, archived from the original on 18 August 2024, page 45:

     The next steps will be to analyze the uptake of each PS [photosensitizer], even if it is by fluorescence spectroscopy or by fluorescence microscopy, to aprimorate the conditions used for each.

   • 2021, Cláudia Azevedo, “Intestinal Models for Preclinical Validation”, in New Engineered FcRn-targeting Nanoplatforms for Oral Delivery of Biopharmaceuticals‎^[5] (Doctor of Biomedical Sciences dissertation), Porto, Porto District, Portugal: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, published 1 April 2021, archived from the original on 18 August 2024, page 29:

     More recently, the same authors aprimorated the intestine-on-a-chip to recapitulate the dynamic host-microbiota interface.

   • 2023 January 15, Débora Ferreira Moraes Guimarães, Antônio Coppi Navarro, “Physical Activity, Sleep Quality and Mental Health in Schoolchildren: Systematic Review”, in Revista Brasileira de Prescrição e Fisiologia do Exercício [Brazilian Journal of Exercise Prescription and Physiology]‎^[6], volume 17, number 107, São Paulo, Brazil: Instituto Brasileiro de Pesquisa e Ensino em Fisiologia do Exercício [Brazilian Institute for Research and Education in Exercise Physiology], published 15 January 2023, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 April 2025, page 2, column 1:

     In adults, a physically active lifestyle it's^{[sic – meaning is]} related to a decrease in the occurrence of several chronic-degenerative diseases such as a reduction in cardiovascular death index and general^[sic]. A high quantity of physical activity collaborates to aprimorate the lipid and metabolic profile and decrease the predominance of obesity in both children and adolescents.

   • [2025] (date accessed), “Achievements”, in Infocus LATAM: Latin American Forum of Fungal Infections in Clinical Practice‎^[7], Brazil, archived from the original on 23 January 2025:

     This network was transformed in the first task force of INFOCUS-LATAM that will coordinate initiatives of educational programs and discussion of regional guidelines for aprimorating the clinical management of fungal infections in pediatric patients.

• The term is almost exclusively used by Portuguese speakers.

• apprimorate

• aprimoration