Language had never been a subject of conversation between us, but even so — or, perhaps, therefore — when you asked why we had "ameliorate" when we also had "improve," I understood immediately that this was no query to meet with a quip.
The question was not of chronology, I knew — even if "improve" did seem to predate "ameliorate" by some 200 years — and, as a matter of debate, language of origin was to be ruled out as well, both words having evolved from French. The inquiry was no issue of precise definition, either, even if you did hint at that in your phrasing; no, clearly we were addressing the nature of synonyms — that is, practically speaking, why do we need multiple words that mean the same thing?
