remedial
rih-MEE-dee-uhl
/rɪˈmiːdiəl/
Provided or intended as a remedy; corrective, especially intended to improve weak skills.
Specifically denotes interventions meant to address deficiencies or bring someone up to a standard level.
The story behind the word. From Late Latin 'remedialis', stemming from Latin 'remedium' (a cure or medicine). It originally referred strictly to medical cures before broadening to education and legal contexts.
Word relationships
- corrective: Corrective focuses on fixing an error; remedial focuses on bringing skills up to a required benchmark.
- advanced: Coursework or skills designed beyond standard expectations.
Commonly confused with
- remedy: Remedy is the noun or verb meaning cure; remedial is the adjective describing corrective action.
Word family
- remedy (noun/verb): A cure or solution; to set right.
- remediable (adjective): Capable of being corrected.
Collocations
- remedial action
- remedial class
- remedial instruction
- remedial measure
Example sentences
- "Students who struggled on the placement test were advised to enroll in remedial writing courses." University Support Programs
Memory hook
REMEDial provides a REMEDY for weak skills. REMEDial = REMEDY for learning gaps.
When not to use
Do not use to describe advanced or elite-level honors courses.
Fun facts
- The word retained its purely medical sense for centuries before American educators adopted it in the 1920s.
Related words
Explore more words
remediation, remediate, therapeutic, rectify, rehabilitate, diagnostic
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