reformer meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

reformer

nounalso spelled Reformer

Etymology From reform + -er.

One who reforms, or who works for reform.

Among the frontrunners before the conclave began were Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state; Luis Antonio Tagle, a reformer from the Philippines; Péter Erdő, a traditionalist from Hungary; Robert Sarah, a cardinal from Guinea who criticised Francis’s papacy; and the moderate US cardinal Robert Prevost.2025 May 8, Angela Giuffrida and Harriet Sherwood, “White smoke from Sistine Chapel chimney signals election of new pope”, in The Guardian:

Christianity Historical One who was involved in the Reformation.

[…] for I long to ſee a larke without a creaſt, and would travaile farre to diſcoover a reformer without a fault, […]1593, Gabriell Haruey [i.e., Gabriel Harvey], Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame, London: […] Iohn Wolfe, →OCLC; republished as John Payne Collier, editor, Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. […] (Miscellaneous Tracts. Temp. Eliz. & Jac. I; no. 8), [London]: [s.n.], [1870], →OCLC, page 127:

A device which converts hydrocarbons into a hydrogen-rich mixture of gases.

Chemical engineering; fuel cells; chemical engineering; fuel cells

The fuel reformer works somewhat like catalytic converters in cars. In the gasoline reformer, vaporized gasoline is mixed with steam and air before traveling through a cylinder packed with the new Argonne catalyst. The result is a hydrogen-rich gas that is further processed in subsequent chemical steps and is then fed to the fuel cell.2004, Evelyn Brown, “Argonne tests and creates the fuel cells to power the future”, in Evelyn Brown, editor, Logos, volume 22, number 1, page 15:

Chemistry, Geography, Geology, Natural sciences, Petrochemistry, Petrology, Physical sciences A device used to convert petroleum refinery naphthas, typically having low octane ratings, into high-octane liquid products called reformates.

Deisohexanizer bottoms are routed to the continuous reformer, where the octane of the stream is upgraded chiefly by conversion of naphthenes and paraffins to high octane aromatic compounds.1979 December 23, Alaska Petrochemical Company, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Draft[:] Environmental Impact Statement, page 29:

Antonyms: traditionalist
Derived terms: antireformer, catalytic reformer, counterreformer, reformeress, spelling reformer

Reformer

noun

Etymology From Reform (Party) + -er.

Christianity Historical Alternative letter-case form of reformer (“one involved in the Reformation”).

Canada, Historical A member of the Reform movement in 19th-century Canada.

Government, Politics Canadian A member of the Reform Party of Canada, which existed from 1987 to 2000.

Government, Politics UK A member or supporter of Reform UK.

Derived terms: Counter-Reformer