amends (n.)

early 13c., amenden, "to free from faults, rectify," from Old French amender "correct, set right, make better, improve" (12c.), from Latin emendare "to correct, free from fault," from ex "out" (see ex-) + menda, mendum "fault, physical blemish; error," from PIE *mend- "physical defect, fault" (source also of Sanskrit minda "physical blemish," Old Irish mennar "stain, blemish," Welsh mann "sign, mark;" Hittite mant- "something harming").

The spelling with a- is unusual but early and also is found in Provençal and Italian. In English, the word has been supplanted in senses of "repair; cure" by its shortened offspring mend (v.). The meaning "to add to legislation" (ostensibly to correct or improve it) is recorded from 1777. Related: Amended; amending.

early 14c., "recompense, reparation," a shortened form of amends. Sense of "a remedy, cure" (now obsolete) is from mid-14c., from mend (v.). Meaning "act of mending; a repaired hole or rip in fabric" is from 1888. Phrase on the mend "on the path to recovering from sickness, improving in condition" is attested by 1802.