improvement

noun7

1. •
   The act of improving; advancement or growth; a bettering

   • November 9, 1662, Robert South, Of the Creation of Man in the Image of God I look upon your city as […] the best place of improvement.
2. •
   The state of being improved; betterment; advance
3. •
   Increase; growth; progress; advance.

   • Those vices which more particularly receive improvement by prosperity. — 1692
4. •
   Something which is improved

   • the new edition is an improvement on the old.
   • The decade has seen vast improvements in techniques.
5. •
   [in the plural] Valuable additions or betterments, for example buildings, clearings, drains, fences, etc., on premises.
6. •
   A useful addition to, or modification of, a machine, manufacture, or composition.
7. •
   The act of making profitable use or application of anything, or the state of being profitably employed; practical application, for example of a doctrine, principle, or theory, stated in a discourse.

   • good improvement of his reason. — 1705