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Amicable comes from Latin amīcābilis, meaning "friendly," and amāre, "to feel affection for" or "to love." Amāre has a number of English descendants, including amiable ("friendly, sociable, and congenial"), amorous ("strongly moved by love and especially sexual love"), and amateur, which, though it might seem surprising, is related to amāre by way of the Latin amātor, which means "lover" as well as "enthusiastic admirer" and "devotee."
Synonyms
Examples of amicable in a Sentence
About a million couples divorce each year in the United States, and most, like my ex and me, start out striving to keep the split amicable. And though you may have good intentions, things can go awry during the traditional I-win-you-lose adversarial process.
—
Annie Finnigan, Family Circle, 17 Oct. 2008
Instead, with the help of a neighborhood activist, Rob struck out in another direction. He retook his old turf from the dealers who had replaced him and opened a fruit stand and, later, a hot-dog concession. Bright, amicable and assured, Rob so impressed Anderson that the sociologist hired him as a part-time assistant.
—Ellis Cose, Newsweek, 30 Aug. 1999
Cops such as William Anderson and Lowell Powell had been Sonny's friends. "I was a policeman and he was something of a thug," Powell recalled, but nonetheless their dealings were amicable. In the big picture, however, there was no love lost between Sonny and the cops.
—Nick Tosches, Vanity Fair, February 1998
They reached an amicable agreement.
the contract negotiations between the hotel workers and management were reasonably amicable
Annie Finnigan, Family Circle, 17 Oct. 2008
Instead, with the help of a neighborhood activist, Rob struck out in another direction. He retook his old turf from the dealers who had replaced him and opened a fruit stand and, later, a hot-dog concession. Bright, amicable and assured, Rob so impressed Anderson that the sociologist hired him as a part-time assistant.
—Ellis Cose, Newsweek, 30 Aug. 1999
Cops such as William Anderson and Lowell Powell had been Sonny's friends. "I was a policeman and he was something of a thug," Powell recalled, but nonetheless their dealings were amicable. In the big picture, however, there was no love lost between Sonny and the cops.
—Nick Tosches, Vanity Fair, February 1998
They reached an amicable agreement.
the contract negotiations between the hotel workers and management were reasonably amicable
Recent Examples on the Web
The end of Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle’s relationship appears to be on relatively amicable terms, with Trump Jr. congratulating Guilfoyle on her nomination.
—Naomi Lim, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 11 Dec. 2024
But the rumors that the reasons for their split were less amicable than that were present from the beginning.
—Lissete Lanuza Sáenz, StyleCaster, 4 Dec. 2024
Of course, her name didn’t come up in the separation announcement, which was amicable and polite.
—Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 24 Oct. 2024
Lesbian Front: Washington D.C. & Mississippi, 1970s Lesbian Front was founded in 1972 by former partners Yvonne Stevenson and Chris Lundberg, who started the publication after an amicable breakup and lived in Jackson, Mississippi and Washington, D.C. respectively.
—Elyssa Goodman, Them, 4 Oct. 2024
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Naomi Lim, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 11 Dec. 2024
But the rumors that the reasons for their split were less amicable than that were present from the beginning.
—Lissete Lanuza Sáenz, StyleCaster, 4 Dec. 2024
Of course, her name didn’t come up in the separation announcement, which was amicable and polite.
—Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 24 Oct. 2024
Lesbian Front: Washington D.C. & Mississippi, 1970s Lesbian Front was founded in 1972 by former partners Yvonne Stevenson and Chris Lundberg, who started the publication after an amicable breakup and lived in Jackson, Mississippi and Washington, D.C. respectively.
—Elyssa Goodman, Them, 4 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for amicable
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Dictionary Entries Near amicable
Cite this Entry
“Amicable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amicable. Accessed 24 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
amicable
adjective
am·i·ca·ble
ˈam-i-kə-bəl 
: showing kindness or goodwill : peaceable
neighbors maintaining amicable relations
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