Progress
Moving forward, or just moving on. Usually at great cost and loss.
How We Say It
prog·res
Where It Comes From
Latin progressus — a going forward. From progredi — to go forward. From pro- (forward) + gradi (to step). The idea that forward motion is inherently good — that history moves in a direction and that direction is improvement — was not assumed before the Enlightenment.
How It's Been Used
The progressive/conservative divide is largely a dispute about whether change is improvement. 'Progressive' as a political self-description claims the word's positive charge; conservatives argue that not all forward movement is good. Both are using 'progress' to mean something more than just 'change.'