amicus

English

Etymology

Ellipsis of amicus curiae.

Pronunciation

Noun

amicus (plural amici)

  1. (law, informal) Synonym of amicus curiae.

References

Anagrams

Latin

Etymology

    From amō (“to love”) +‎ -īcus, with the ending perhaps derived from Proto-Indo-European *-ih₁ (instrumental suffix) + *-kos, as also in pudīcus, mendīcus.

    Pronunciation

    Adjective

    amīcus (feminine amīca, neuter amīcum, comparative amīcior, superlative amīcissimus, adverb amīcē); first/second-declension adjective

    1. friendly, well-disposed, amicable
    2. loyal, devoted to
    3. supporting, propitious, helpful
    4. welcome, dear

    Declension

    First/second-declension adjective.

    singular plural
    masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter
    nominative amīcus amīca amīcum amīcī amīcae amīca
    genitive amīcī amīcae amīcī amīcōrum amīcārum amīcōrum
    dative amīcō amīcae amīcō amīcīs
    accusative amīcum amīcam amīcum amīcōs amīcās amīca
    ablative amīcō amīcā amīcō amīcīs
    vocative amīce amīca amīcum amīcī amīcae amīca

    Noun

    amīcus m (genitive amīcī, feminine amīca); second declension

    1. male friend
      Synonyms: necessārius, comes, sodālis, concordia
      amīcum parāre ― to make a friend; to befriend
      • c. 194 BCE, Plautus, Poenulus 3.1.1–4:
        [Agorastocles] Ita me di ament, tardo amico nihil est quicquam inaequius,
        praesertim homini amanti, qui quidquid agit properat omnia.
        Sicut ego hos duco advocatos, homines spissigradissimos,
        tardiores quam corbitae sunt in tranquillo mari.
        [Agorastocles] May gods so love me, nothing is more unfair than having a slothful friend, even more so for a man in love, who in doing anything must all expedite. So I lead them, having called them forth, the most slow-paced men of them all, slower than freight ships [corbitae] upon a quiet sea.
    2. (Augustan and later) courtier, minister, counsellor

    Declension

    Second-declension noun.

    singular plural
    nominative amīcus amīcī
    genitive amīcī amīcōrum
    dative amīcō amīcīs
    accusative amīcum amīcōs
    ablative amīcō amīcīs
    vocative amīce amīcī

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • Italo-Romance:
      • Dalmatian: amaic
      • Old Italian: amico
      • Neapolitan: amico
      • Sicilian: amicu
    • Padanian:
    • Gallo-Romance:
      • Catalan: amic
      • Franco-Provençal: ami
      • Old French: ami (see there for further descendants)
      • Occitan: amic
    • Ibero-Romance:
    • Insular Romance:
      • Old Sardinian:
        • Sardinian: amigu (most dialects), amicu (Nuorese)
        • Sassarese: amiggu
    • Borrowings:
      • → Albanian: mik (early)
      • → Czech: amík
      • → Dutch: amice

    References

    • “amicus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    • “amicus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
    • "amicus", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
    • “amicus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
    • amicus in Georges, Karl Ernst; Georges, Heinrich (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th edition, volume 1, Hahnsche Buchhandlung
    • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
      • he received from the senate the title of friend: a senatu amicus appellatus est (B. G. 1. 3)
      • (ambiguous) to be friendly with any one: uti aliquo amico

    Further reading

    • “amīcus” on page 130 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)
    • De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “amō”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
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