amends

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English amendes,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French amendes (“fines, penalties; reparation”), the plural of amende (“reparation, compensation”),^{[5][6][2][7][8]} a noun from amender (“to amend”), the source of amend.^[5][6][9][4] The Old French noun is recorded from before 1175, and in the specific sense of a payment or fine made to repair an injury from before 1271;^[5] in Anglo-Norman it is recorded from 1140–60, meaning compensation, a fine and the right to levy fines.^[10] The verb goes back to Latin ēmendō (“to free from fault, correct”),^[11][6] from ē- (“out”) and menda (“fault, blemish”).^[11][6] The OED compares Old Occitan amenda (“compensation, redress”) and the noun mend.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Reparation or compensation for a wrong, in the plural: about 1330, in the Auchinleck manuscript of Guy of Warwick.^[5] Etymonline dates the word to the early 14th century,^[6] and Dictionary.com to 1275–1325.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the word also meant a fine or other payment given to make up for an injury (from 1340, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt, obsolete after the 18th century),^[5][7] and a penance performed as an outward sign of repentance (1340–1450).^[5] Although plural in form, it was usually treated as singular; from 1443 it is found with the indefinite article, an amends;^[5] a true singular amend appears in Gower before 1393 but has always been much rarer.^[5][3] Senses that French does not have, such as "remedy" (from before 1529) and "improvement" (from before 1547), followed the senses of the verb amend,^[5] as did the late use for an amendment to a document (1888).^[5] Johnson (1755) took the English word for a corruption of the French singular and defined it as recompense, compensation or atonement.^[12] In Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire dialect to make amends meant to return a favour or an obligation.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1330 – reparation, compensation, in the plural.^[5]
• 1340 – a fine or payment given to make reparation (obsolete after 1769); also penance as a sign of repentance (obsolete after 1450).^[5]
• before 1393 – singular amend, reparation, in Gower's Confessio Amantis.^[5]
• 1443 – an amends, with the indefinite article.^[5]
• before 1529 – remedy, a means of obtaining reparation (obsolete).^[5]
• before 1547 – improvement (obsolete).^[5]
• 1562 – chiefly in Scots law, a fine or penalty.^[5]
• 1888 – an amendment or correction to a document.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. Compensation or reparation for a loss, injury or insult, usually in make amends: He brought her flowers to make amends for missing the dinner.^[3][14][2]
2. (rare) In the singular, amend: a payment of compensation.^[3][5]
3. (obsolete, 1340–1769) A fine or other payment given to make up for an injury or offence.^[5][7]

Related words

• amend
• mend
• emend
• amendment

Usage notes

The word is plural in form but usually takes a singular verb; the singular amend is much rarer.^[5][3][1] It occurs mostly in the phrase make amends.^[1][3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins