amity

See also: Amity

English

Etymology

From Middle English amite, from Old French amisté, amitie, amistiet, from Vulgar Latin *amīcitātem, derived from Latin amīcus (“friend”), from amō (“love”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ăm′ĭ-tē
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæmɪti/, [ˈɛəmɪɾi]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: am‧i‧ty

Noun

amity (plural amities)

2. (formal, literary) Friendship; friendliness.

   Antonyms: enmity, hostility, enemyship, enemyhood

   Coordinate terms: frenemyship, rivalry

   • 1922, Thomas Hardy, “Welcome Home”, in Lyrics Late and Earlier:

     To my native place ¶ Bent upon returning, ¶ Bosom all day burning ¶ To be where my race ¶ Well were known, 'twas much with me ¶ There to dwell in amity.

3. Mutual understanding and a peaceful relationship, especially between nations.

   Antonyms: enmity, hostility, enemyship, enemyhood

   Near-synonyms: accord, concord, harmony, peace, peacefulness

Usage notes

• This is a formal term and implies the cooperative and supportive relationship between persons, peoples, nations, or animals. In this sense, the term connotes a relationship which involves mutual knowledge, esteem, affection, and respect along with a degree of rendering service to friends in times of need or crisis.

Related terms

• amiable
• amicable
• amorous

Translations

friendship

• Bulgarian: приятелство (bg) (prijatelstvo), разбирателство (bg) (razbiratelstvo)
• Czech: přátelství (cs) n, přátelské vztahy
• Danish: venskab (da) n
• French: amitié (fr) f
• Galician: amizade (gl) f
• Hindi: मैत्री (hi) f (maitrī), मित्रता (hi) (mitratā), बंधुत्व (hi) m (bandhutva)
• Italian: amicizia (it) f
• Japanese: 友好 (ja) (yūkō), 親睦 (ja) (shimboku), 友誼 (ja) (yūgi)
• Polish: przyjaźń (pl) f, drużba (pl) f (obsolete)
• Portuguese: amizade (pt) f
• Russian: дру́жба (ru) f (drúžba)
• Spanish: amistad (es) f

Further reading

• William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “amity, n.”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, revised edition, volumes I (A–C), New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 176, column 3.
• “amity”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “amity, n.”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 176, column 3.
• “amity”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• atimy