mid-14c., correccioun, "authority to correct;" late 14c., "action of correcting or chastising, rectification of faults (in character, conduct, etc.) by restraints or punishments," also "a bringing into conformity to a standard, model, or original," from Old French correccion (13c.) "correction, amendment; punishment, rebuke," from Latin correctionem (nominative correctio) "an amendment, improvement," noun of action from past-participle stem of corrigere "to put straight; to reform" (see correct (v.)).
Meaning "an instance of correction, that which is proposed or substituted for what is wrong" is from 1520s. House of correction "place of confinement, intended to be reformatory, for those convicted of minor offenses and not considered as belonging to the professional criminal class" was in an English royal statute from 1575.
also over-correction, "an excessive or too frequent correction," 1828, from over- + correction.
"tending to or intended for correction," 1790; see correction + -al (1) or else from Medieval Latin correctionalis, from past-participle stem of Latin corrigere.
"removal of errors; the correction of that which is erroneous or faulty; alteration for the better; correction," mid-15c., of ways of life; 17c., of texts; from Latin emendationem (nominative emendatio) "a correction, improvement," noun of action from past-participle stem of emendare "to free from fault" (see emend).
early 13c., "betterment, improvement;" c. 1300, of persons, "correction, reformation," from Old French amendement "rectification, correction; advancement, improvement," from amender "to amend" (see amend). The sense expanded 17c. to include "correction of error in a legal process" (c. 1600) and "alteration of a writ or bill" to remove its faults (1690s).
"incapability of correction or amendment," late 15c., incorrigibilite, from Medieval Latin incorrigibilitas; see incorrigible + -ity.
