Etymograph

English

amical

Amical comes from Latin amīcālis ‘friendly’, from amō ‘to love’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃emh₃- ‘to grab, to grasp, to seize, to take hold,…’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃emh₃-1‘to grab, to grasp, to seize, to take hold, tackle, touch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*amāō1‘to get hold of’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamō1‘to love’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamīcus1‘friendly, well-disposed, amicable’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamīcālis2‘friendly’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600amical2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2002amical2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin amicalis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English amical
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation: “The Encyclopédie pulled through this crisis mainly through the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃emh₃-Wiktionary, Latin amicalis‘to grab, to grasp, to seize, to take hold, tackle, touch’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*amāōWiktionary, Latin amicalis‘to get hold of’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamōWiktionary, Latin amicalis‘to love’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamīcusWiktionary, Latin amicalis‘friendly, well-disposed, amicable’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEamīcālisWiktionary, English amical‘friendly’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600amicalWiktionary, English amical
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2002amicalWiktionary, English amical. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation: “The Encyclopédie pulled through this crisis mainly through the…”

Linked words

through Latin amō ‘to love’

amour, amenity, 20 more

through Latin amīcus ‘friendly, well-disposed, amicable’

enemy, enmity, amiable, amity, amigo, inimical, 5 more

Today it means

adj Friendly, amicable.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “amical”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin amicalis. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃emh₃- / amical

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