amenable

English

Alternative forms

• amesnable (obsolete)

Etymology

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman amenable, amesnable, from amener (“to bring or lead, fetch in or to”) +‎ -able (“-able”); amener is in turn from a- + mener (“to lead, conduct”), from Late Latin mināre (“to drive”), Latin deponent minārī (“to threaten, menace”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈmiːnəbəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /əˈmɛn.ə.bəl/, /əˈmin.ə.bəl/
• Rhymes: -ɛnəbəl

Adjective

amenable (comparative more amenable, superlative most amenable)

1. Willing to respond to persuasion or suggestions.

   Synonyms: persuadable, agreeable

   Coordinate terms: (stronger and more negative) suggestible, gullible

2. Willing to comply; easily led.

   Synonyms: compliant, complaisant

   • 2020 August 4, Richard Conniff, “They may look goofy, but ostriches are nobody’s fool”, in National Geographic Magazine‎^[1]:

     The communal nature of ostriches may have made these birds more amenable to life in captivity.

3. Liable to be brought to account, to a charge or claim; responsible; accountable; answerable.
4. (law) Liable to the legal authority of (something).

   Decisions of the Boards of Appeal are amenable to actions before the Court of Justice of the European Communities.

5. (mathematics, of a group) Being a locally compact topological group carrying a kind of averaging operation on bounded functions that is invariant under translation by group elements.

Antonyms

• unamenable

Derived terms

• amenableness
• amenably
• nonamenable
• supramenable
• unamenable

Translations

willing to respond to persuasion or suggestions

• Bulgarian: податлив (bg) (podatliv), поддаващ се (poddavašt se), послушен (bg) (poslušen)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 順從嘅 / 顺从嘅 (seon⁶ cung⁴ ge³)

• Czech: přístupný (cs), ochotný (cs), svolný, poddajný (cs), povolný (cs)
• Dutch: aanspreekbaar (nl), gevoelig (nl), toegankelijk (nl)
• Finnish: vastaanottavainen
• German: fügsam (de), gefügig (de), zugängig, zugänglich (de)
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍈𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌱𐍃 (gaƕairbs)
• Hungarian: nyitott (hu), fogékony (hu), meggyőzhető (hu), irányítható (hu), kezelhető (hu), fegyelmezhető (hu), szófogadó (hu), kezes (hu), hajlik a szóra
• Macedonian: поводлив (povodliv), неотпорен (neotporen), податлив (podatliv)
• Portuguese: aberto (pt), receptivo (pt)
• Russian: сгово́рчивый (ru) (sgovórčivyj)
• Spanish: receptivo, susceptible (es)
• Turkish: bağlı (tr), cevap verebilir, tabi olan (tr), yumuşak başlı (tr)

willing to comply with; agreeable

• Bulgarian: отзивчив (bg) (otzivčiv), сговорчив (bg) (sgovorčiv)
• Czech: poddajný (cs), přístupný (cs), ochotný (cs), svolný, povolný (cs)
• Finnish: myöntyväinen (fi)
• French: conciliant (fr)
• Greek: πρόθυμος (el) (próthymos), σύμφωνος (el) (sýmfonos)
• Hungarian: hajlandó (hu), hajlamos (hu), (verb) hajlik (hu)
• Macedonian: послушен (poslušen), умен (umen)
• Māori: ngawhere
• Polish: uległy (pl)
• Russian: послу́шный (ru) (poslúšnyj), податливый (ru) (podatlivyj), покладистый (ru) (pokladistyj)
• Spanish: agradable (es) (archaic), dócil (es)

liable to be brought to account, to a charge or claim; responsible; accountable; answerable — see liable,‎ responsible,‎ accountable,‎ answerable

liable to the legal authority of (something)

• Czech: podléhající
• Hungarian: hatálya/illetékessége alá tartozik, hatálya/illetékessége kiterjed rá

Further reading

• “amenable”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “amenable”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “amenable”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• beanmeal, meanable, nameable

Old French

Alternative forms

• amesnable (influenced by mesne, demesne)

Etymology

From amener (“to bring or lead, fetch in or to”) +‎ -able (“-able”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aməˈnablə/

Adjective

amenable m (oblique and nominative feminine singular amenable) (Anglo-Norman)

1. amenable (agreeable, compliant, persuadable)
2. (law) amenable (answerable, liable)

Descendants

• → English: amenable