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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
Recent Examples on the Web
Kate Daly, relationship expert and cofounder of online divorce service amicable, shared the pros and cons of throning.
—Matt Robison, Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2024
In a dramatic reversal a week later, the company, which is 46% state-owned, concluded an amicable solution and she was reinstated as Wahaha’s chairman and CEO.
—Yue Wang, Forbes, 6 Nov. 2024
Campaigns aren’t the amicable PTA-like chitchat about budgets or where to draw district lines or how to support teachers.
—Baltimore Sun Editorial Board, Baltimore Sun, 1 Nov. 2024
This year, according to the countersuit, Strum and Lasry expressed interest in an amicable resolution, after Strum’s counsel sent a letter to his detailing her legal claims.
—Alena Botros, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Amicable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amicable. Accessed 11 Dec. 2024.
Kids Definition
amicable
adjective
am·i·ca·ble
ˈam-i-kə-bəl 
: showing kindness or goodwill : peaceable
neighbors maintaining amicable relations
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