Etymologically
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amabilis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [aˈmaː.bɪ.lɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [aˈmaː.bi.lis][1]

Forms

amābilis (neuter amābile, comparative amābilior, adverb amābiliter); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin amō (“to love”) + -bilis.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces amō to Proto-Italic *ama- (“to take, hold”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₃mh₃- (“to take hold of”); the Latin meaning developed from “to take the hand of” to “to regard as a friend”.[4] Cognate with Ancient Greek ὄμνυμι (ómnumi, “to swear”) and the Marrucinian verb ⟨amatens⟩ “they have received”.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short and the OLD first quote Plautus: “you are too pretty and lovable”.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

It means able or worthy to be loved, lovable, of persons and of qualities, as Cicero's speech that shows the orator's lovable character.[2][5] Of things it is delightful, as Cicero's villa and shore than which nothing could be more lovely.[2] The TLL notes that the active sense is rare, and that the phrase “lovable to God” is common among Christian writers.[3] Church Latin glosses it “lovable, amiable, lovely”,[6] and English amable “friendly, courteous” (early 15th century) goes back to it through Old French.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a lovable girl.[2][5][8]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a lovable character and a delightful villa.[2][8]
  • early 15th century – English amable, through Old French.[7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Worthy of love, lovable, amiable.[2][5][1]
  2. Delightful, pleasant, lovely.[2][1]

Word family

  • amābilitās
  • inamābilis
  • amābiliter

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de