amiable

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English amiable, also spelled amyable,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French amiable (“lovable, lovely; friendly, kind”), the Anglo-Norman and Old French form, beside Anglo-Norman ameable.^[4][5][6][7] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from 1120–40.^[7] It goes back to Latin amīcābilis (“friendly”),^{[4][5][6][8][9]} which the OED calls classical Latin and Barnhart, Klein and the American Heritage Dictionary Late Latin;^[4][6][8][9] this is from amīcus (“friend”),^[5][6][10] originally an adjective "friendly, loving", from amō (“to love”).^[5][10] In French its meaning was influenced by Old French amable (“lovable”),^{[4][5][6][11]} from amābilis (“lovable”),^[6][12][13] which became French aimable;^[13][8][14] English later took the Latin adjective again, without the French change of sense, as amicable.^[5][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Worthy of love, lovable, said of a person: before 1375, in William of Palerne.^[4] Barnhart likewise dates the word before 1375.^[6] The sense "friendly, kindly" follows before 1382 in the Wycliffite Bible,^[4][2] and Chaucer uses the word nine times.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Middle English had both senses of the French word, "friendly, kind" and "lovable, lovely".^[15][5][16] The second, which Barnhart ascribes to confusion with French amable, is now obsolete or archaic;^[6][4][16] Trench notes that amiable was once a full synonym of lovely, as in "How amiable are thy tabernacles" in the Authorized Version of Psalm 84 and in Milton's Paradise Lost, but that by his time it expressed only moral loveliness.^[17] Johnson (1755) still defined it first as "lovely; pleasing".^[18] The current sense, of a friendly and good-natured disposition, dates from the mid 18th century and was influenced by modern French aimable;^[15][19][16] the OED's first example is from Fielding's Tom Jones (1749).^[4] From 1811 to do the amiable meant to behave pleasantly or make agreeable conversation, now rare.^[4] From 1875, originally in American use, the word could also mean favourably inclined toward a thing.^[4] C. Mackay reported in 1859 that in America amiable was taken to mean stupid, to the offence of a congressman so described by an Englishman.^[20]

Timeline

• before 1375 – of a person, worthy of love, lovable (now obsolete).^[4][6]
• before 1382 – of a person, friendly, kindly (now obsolete).^[4][2]
• c. 1384 – of a thing, lovely, pleasing (obsolete by 1925).^[4]
• 1749 – of a person or mood, friendly and good-natured.^[4][15]
• 1811 – to do the amiable, to behave pleasantly.^[4]
• 1859 – in American use, reportedly, stupid.^[20]
• 1875 – favourably inclined toward a thing, originally in the United States.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having or showing a friendly, pleasant and good-natured disposition: an amiable host who remembered every guest's name.^[10][21][4]
2. Generally agreeable and free of anything offensive; mild: an amiable but forgettable film.^[10]
3. Well disposed or favourably inclined toward something (originally chiefly American).^[4][22]
4. (obsolete, 1375–1925) Lovable, lovely.^[4][16][6]

Word family

• amiability
• amiably
• amiableness
• unamiable

Related words

• amicable
• amity
• amateur

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary groups amiable with affable, good-natured, obliging, agreeable and pleasant, which all describe a willingness to please, and amiable stresses friendliness.^[9]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
12. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
13. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
15. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
16. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
17. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
18. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
19. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
20. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
21. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
22. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press