amiable (adj.)

late 14c., "kindly, friendly," also "worthy of love or admiration," from Old French amiable "pleasant, kind; worthy to be loved" (12c.), from Late Latin amicabilis "friendly," from Latin amicus "friend, loved one," noun use of an adjective, "friendly, loving," from amare "to love" (see Amy).

The form and sense were confused in Old French with amable "lovable" (from Latin amare "to love"), and by 16c. the English word also had a secondary sense of "exciting love or delight," especially by having an agreeable temper and a kind heart. The word was subsequently reborrowed by English in Latin form without the sense contamination as amicable.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to amiable

amicable (adj.)

early 15c., "pleasant," from Late Latin amicabilis "friendly," a word in Roman law, from Latin amicus "friend," ultimately from amare "to love" (see Amy). In modern use "characterized by friendliness, free from hard feelings, peaceable, socially harmonious." Compare amiable, which is the same word through French. Related: Amicableness.

Amy

fem. proper name, from Old French Amee, literally "beloved," from fem. past participle of amer "to love," from Latin amare "to love, be in love with; find pleasure in," Proto-Italic *ama- "to take, hold," from a PIE root meaning "take hold of," also the source of Sanskrit amisi, amanti "take hold of; swear;" Avestan *ama- "attacking power;" Greek omnymi "to swear," anomotos "under oath;" Old Irish namae "enemy." According to de Vaan, "The Latin meaning has developed from 'to take the hand of' [to] 'regard as a friend'."

amiability (n.)

"quality of being friendly and agreeable," 1779, from amiable + -ity. Amiableness is recorded from 1530s.

Trends of amiable

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to Explore

affable

of persons, "open to conversation or approach," late 15c., from Old French affable "benign, approachable" (14c.), from Latin affabilis "approachable, courteous, kind, friendly," literally "who can be (easily) spoken to," from affari "to speak to," from ad "to" (see ad-) + fari "t

cordial

c. 1400, "of or pertaining to the heart" (a sense now obsolete or rare, replaced by cardiac), from Medieval Latin cordialis "of or for the heart," from Latin cor (genitive cordis) "heart," from PIE root *kerd- "heart." Meaning "heartfelt, proceeding from the heart as the supposed

genial

1560s, "pertaining to marriage," from Latin genialis "pleasant, festive," originally "pertaining to marriage rites," from genius "guardian spirit," with here perhaps a special sense of "tutelary deity of a married couple," from PIE *gen(e)-yo-, from root *gene- "give birth, beget

no-frills

An amiable term to express a vulgar fellow. [Albert Barrère and Charles G....

mirepoix

What is the Duke of Mirepoix to us because his wife was amiable to Louis XV.?...

pet

replies a pamper'd goose: [Alexander Pope, "Essay on Man"] It is an amiable part of human nature, that we should love...

one

One of the boys "ordinary amiable fellow" is from 1893....

kaput

"finished, worn out, dead," 1895 as a German word in English, from German kaputt "destroyed, ruined, lost" (1640s), which in this sense probably is a misunderstanding of an expression from card-playing, capot machen, a partial translation into German of French faire capot, a phra

shock

1560s, "violent encounter of armed forces or a pair of warriors," a military term, from French choc "violent attack," from Old French choquer "strike against," probably from Frankish, from a Proto-Germanic imitative base (compare Middle Dutch schokken "to push, jolt," Old High Ge

religion

c. 1200, religioun, "state of life bound by monastic vows," also "action or conduct indicating a belief in a divine power and reverence for and desire to please it," from Anglo-French religiun (11c.), Old French religion, relegion "piety, devotion; religious community," and direc

Share amiable

‘cite’

Page URL:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/amiable

HTML Link:

<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/amiable">Etymology of amiable by etymonline</a>

APA style:

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of amiable. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/amiable

Chicago style:

Harper Douglas, “Etymology of amiable,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/amiable.

MLA style:

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of amiable.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/amiable. Accessed $(datetimeMla).

IEEE style:

D. Harper. “Etymology of amiable.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/amiable (accessed $(datetime)).

updated on September 20, 2022

Remove ads >

Dictionary entries near amiable

amethyst

Amex

Amharic

ami

amiability

amiable

amicability

amicable

amicably

amicus curiae

amid