amiable
English
WOTD – 6 December 2011
Etymology
From Middle English amyable, from Old French amiable, from Late Latin amīcābilis (“friendly”), from Latin amīcus (“friend”), from amō (“I love”). The meaning has been influenced by French amiable and Latin amābilis (“loveable”). Compare with amicable, amorous, amability.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈeɪ.mi.ə.bəl/, /ˈæ.mi.ə.bəl/
Audio (AU) (file)
Adjective
amiable (comparative more amiable, superlative most amiable)
- Friendly; kind; sweet; gracious
- an amiable temper
- amiable ideas
- 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, V.i:
- The sums I have lent him! indeed—I have been exceedingly to blame—it was an amiable weakness!
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter III, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:
- A short time afterward at the opera Gerald dragged him into a parterre to say something amiable to one of the amiable débutante Craig girls—and Selwyn found himself again facing Alixe.
- Of a pleasant and likeable nature; kind-hearted; easy to like
- an amiable person
- c. 1521, John Skelton, “Speke Parott”:
- My deyſy delectabyll
My prymerose commendabyll
My vyolet amyabyll
My ioye in explicabill
Nowe torne agayne to me
- My deyſy delectabyll
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter III, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 24962326:
- A short time afterward at the opera Gerald dragged him into a parterre to say something amiable to one of the amiable débutante Craig girls—and Selwyn found himself again facing Alixe.
Usage notes
- See amicable.
Synonyms
- likable
Derived terms
- amiability
- amiableness
- amiably
Related terms
- amicable
- amity
Translations
friendly as an amiable temper or mood
|
possessing sweetness of disposition
|
Further reading
- amiable in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- amiable in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
- amiable at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- aimable
French
Etymology
Inherited from Late Latin amīcābilis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /a.mjabl/
Audio (file) Audio (CAN) (file)
Adjective
amiable (plural amiables)
- amiable
Derived terms
- à l'amiable
Further reading
- “amiable”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Old French
Etymology
From Late Latin amīcābilis (“friendly”), from Latin amīcus (“friend”), from amō (“I love”).
Adjective
amiable m (oblique and nominative feminine singular amiable)
- likable; amiable
Descendants
- Middle French: amyable
- Middle English: amyable, amiable
- English: amiable