Etymologically
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ami

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /a.mi/[1]
  • IPA (Louisiana): [ɑ̃.mi][1]

Forms

ami m (plural amis, feminine amie or (Louisiana, also) amise or amille or amiliée)[1] Old French amic, amics, amicz (about 980), ami (about 1170); nominative amis, object ami.[2][3] Feminine amie, Old French m'amie became ma mie.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French amic, inherited from Latin amīcus (“friend, (of a woman) lover”), from amō (“to love”) (see aimer).[2][4][5][1][6] In Latin “amīcus” meant a friend, also a lover, and a political supporter (Cicero), and could take a complement of a thing (“amici veritatis” “friends of truth”).[7][2]

Cognate with Romanian amic, Italian amico, Catalan amic, Spanish amigo and Portuguese amigo.[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the second half of the 10th century in the Passion de Clermont: Sant Johan lo son cher amic “Saint John, his dear friend”; the feminine is found about 1100 in the Chanson de Roland (Soer, cher' amie).[7]

Semantic evolution

In French the word is linked to amitié rather than to amour, as it could be in Latin and Old French.[2] It meant “lover” from the 11th century to the 17th, and also “relative” (about 1050, ami de char, 13th century), a sense lost before the classical period.[2][7] The feminine amie has had both values, friendship and love, since the 11th century; in courtly language belle amie (about 1130) was a term of affection and then “mistress”, and bonne amie has passed from medieval use to provincial and then familiar, often ironic, use.[2]

From about 1170 ami also meant a supporter or partisan, and, from the 16th century someone fond of something (amis de fricassée, Amyot).[7] As an adjective it meant “dear to (a man)” in Old French and “friendly, favourable” from 1647.[7] Today petit ami, petite amie and son ami are euphemisms for a lover or partner.[2][9]

Timeline

  • 2nd half of the 10th century – Amic in the Passion de Clermont.[7]
  • c. 1050 – “Relative”.[2]
  • c. 1100 – Feminine amie in the Chanson de Roland.[7]
  • c. 1130 – Belle amie.[2]
  • 1165–1170 – S'amie “his beloved”, in Chrétien de Troyes's Érec et Énide.[7]
  • c. 1170 – “Supporter, partisan”.[7]
  • 1647 – Adjective “friendly”, in Corneille.[7]
  • 1671 – Ami de cœur.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A friend: un vieil ami, entre amis.[9][1]
  2. A boyfriend or girlfriend, a lover: son petit ami, sa petite amie.[9][2]
  3. A supporter, lover of something: les amis de la nature.[7][10]
  4. In address: mon ami, mes amis.[10]

Adjective

  1. Friendly, allied: un pays ami, une maison amie.[7][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 445b
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse