amichevole

Forms

amichevole m or f (plural amichevoli); the noun is feminine^[1][2] Old forms include Old Italian amikevile, Old Italian amighevel and Old Italian amicevole.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin amīcābilis (“friendly”), with a change of suffix: the popular ending ⟨-àvele⟩ was replaced by ⟨-évole⟩ on the model of words from Latin adjectives in -ibilis.^[4][5][6][7] The unchanged ending survives in a few isolated old forms, Old Italian amiable in Piedmontese sermons of about 1200 and Old Italian amicavili in a Sicilian text of about 1350, and in the adverb Old Italian admicavelemente of a charter from Fabriano of 1186.^[4] Sabatini–Coletti calls it the popular counterpart of amicabile, and Wiktionary a doublet of it.^[8][1] GRADIT, Treccani and Gabrielli instead treat it as formed from Italian amico + -evole.^[2][9][10]

The Late Latin word, recorded in the 6th century in the Novels of Justinian, also gave Old French amiaule (about 1190), French amiable, Old Occitan amigable, Catalan amigable, Spanish amigable the adverb Portuguese amigavelmente (1259), and Romansh amiaivel.^[4][6] It is formed from Latin amīcus (“friend”) with -ābilis.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, as amikevile, is in the Roman Storie de Troia e de Roma of 1252–1258, with the sense “like a friend, affable, cordial”.^[3][4] DELI's first example is in the Novellino at the end of the 13th century: “and so one must not trust the friendly manners of enemies” (E così nelli amichevoli modi de’ nemici non si dee uomo fidare).^[11][7]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used the word for “benevolent”, “favourable”, “allied”, “sociable” and “pleasant”, to render Latin amicus, and in law for a peaceful settlement out of court.^[3] The sense “sociable” is in Boccaccio, persona sollazzevole e amichevole assai “a very merry and sociable person”, and is now obsolete.^[2][9][12]

In sport the adjective describes a match outside any tournament or championship: La Stampa Sportiva of 1906–1907 writes of a match amichevole, and the word is also used as a feminine noun for such a match.^[13][2][12] The noun is an ellipsis of partita amichevole.^[1] In computing the sense “easy to use” is a calque of English user-friendly.^[14][12][15]

Timeline

• 1186 – The old adverb admicavelemente appears in a charter from Fabriano.^[4]
• 1252–1258 – Amikevile appears in the Roman Storie de Troia e de Roma.^[3]
• Late 13th century – The Novellino uses amichevole.^[11]
• 1906–1907 – La Stampa Sportiva writes of a match amichevole.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. friendly, like or befitting a friend; cordial: un tono amichevole;^[2][14][12] in via amichevole, as between friends, out of court.^[2][14][12]
2. (sports) Of a match: not part of a tournament or championship, played for practice or show: un incontro amichevole.^[2][14][12]
3. (computing) Of a program or system: user-friendly, easy to use: un programma amichevole.^[2][14][12]
4. (obsolete) Sociable.^[2][12][8]

Noun

1. (sports, feminine) A friendly, a friendly match: l'amichevole di mercoledì.^[2][14][12]

Word family

• amichevolmente
• amichevolezza

Related words

• amico
• amicabile
• Latin amīcābilis
• French amiable

Usage notes

The adverb is amichevolmente.^[12][9] All'amichevole means informally, as is done among friends.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
3. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
4. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 2, 779
5. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 161
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 390
8. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
9. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
10. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
11. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. Supplemento 2009
14. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana