ami French · revision 16331

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=2nd half of the 10th century, Passion de Clermont|origins=la amō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /a.mi/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): [ɑ̃.mi]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''ami''' ''m'' (plural amis, feminine amie or (Louisiana, also) amise or amille or amiliée)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|amic]], ''amics'', ''amicz'' (about 980), ''ami'' (about 1170); nominative ''amis'', object ''ami''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) Feminine ''amie'', Old French ''m'amie'' became ''ma mie''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|amic]], [[inh|la|amīcus|t=friend, (of a woman) lover]], from [[m|la|amō|t=to love]] (see [[aimer]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|24, 445b) 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”).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|amic]], [[it|amico]], [[ca|amic]], [[es|amigo]] and [[pt|amigo]].^(Wiktionary)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==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'').^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In French the word is linked to [[amitié]] rather than to [[amour]], as it could be in Latin and Old French.^(DHLF 1992) 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.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) 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.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ From about 1170 ''ami'' also meant a supporter or partisan, and, from the 16th century someone fond of something (''amis de fricassée'', Amyot).^(TLFi) As an adjective it meant “dear to (a man)” in Old French and “friendly, favourable” from 1647.^(TLFi) Today ''petit ami'', ''petite amie'' and ''son ami'' are euphemisms for a lover or partner.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 2nd half of the 10th century – ''Amic'' in the ''Passion de Clermont''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – “Relative”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1100 – Feminine ''amie'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1130 – ''Belle amie''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1165–1170 – ''S'amie'' “his beloved”, in Chrétien de Troyes's ''Érec et Énide''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – “Supporter, partisan”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1647 – Adjective “friendly”, in Corneille.^(TLFi)

+ * 1671 – ''Ami de cœur''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|friend]]: ''un vieil ami'', ''entre amis''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A boyfriend or girlfriend, a lover: ''son petit ami'', ''sa petite amie''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A supporter, lover of something: ''les amis de la nature''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # In address: ''mon ami'', ''mes amis''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Friendly, allied: ''un pays ami'', ''une maison amie''.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aimer]]

+ * [[amitié]]

+ * [[ennemi]]

+ * [[amical]]

+ * [[mamie]]

+ * [[la|amīcus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}