reformation

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act of reforming or the state of being reformed.
• noun A 16th-century movement in Western Europe that aimed at reforming some doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant churches.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of forming anew; a second forming in order: as, the reformation of a column of troops into a hollow square.
• noun The act of reforming what is defective or evil, or the state of being reformed; correction or amendment, as of life or manners, or of a government.
• noun Specifically, with the definite article The great religious revolution in the sixteenth century, which led to the establishment of the Protestant churches.
• noun Synonyms Amendment, Reform, Reformation. Amendment may be of any degree, however small; reform applies to something more thorough, and reformation to that which is most important, thorough, and lasting of all. Hence, when we speak of temperance reform, we dignify it less than when we call it temperance reformation. Moral reform, religious reformation; temporary amendment or reform, permanent reformation. Reform represents the state more often than reformation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun 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.
• noun 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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun An improvement (or an intended improvement) in the existing form or condition of institutions or practices etc.; intended to make a striking change for the better in social or political or religious affairs.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun a religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the creation of Protestant churches
• noun rescuing from error and returning to a rightful course
• noun improvement (or an intended improvement) in the existing form or condition of institutions or practices etc.; intended to make a striking change for the better in social or political or religious affairs