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Word of the Day : July 20, 2024
amiable
adjective AY-mee-uh-bul
What It Means
Someone or something described as amiable
is friendly and agreeable.
// Both children have amiable dispositions,
which makes them easy to travel with.
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AMIABLE in Context
"An amiable, Honda Civic–driving, bird-
watching Everyman in shorts and glasses,
Gary somehow turns out to be the perfect
fake assassin." — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 24 May
2024
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Did You Know?
Amiable has its roots in amīcus the Latin
word for "friend," and can ultimately be
traced back to the verb amare, meaning "to
love." English has been friendly with amiable
since the 14th century, at which time it
meant "pleasing" or "admirable" (a sense
that is now obsolete). The current, familiar
senses of "generally agreeable" and "friendly
and sociable" came centuries later. Amare
has also given English speakers such words
as amative and amorous (both meaning
"strongly moved by love"), amour ("a usually
illicit love affair"), and even amateur (which
originally meant "admirer"). And that’s just
the tip of the amare iceberg: its influence on
Romance languages is nothing short of
integral. The Spanish word for "friendship" is
amistad, the French word for "friend" is ami,
and the Italian word for "love"? That’s amore.
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Rearrange the letters to form a word that
describes someone who is pleasant and at
ease in talking to others: FABELFA
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amiable
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