Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “amenities” come from?

Amenities comes from French aménité, from Latin amoenitas (pleasantness), derived from Latin amoenus (pleasant), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European roots related to diminishment and threatening.

amenities (English): plural of amenity; API pl; The quality of being...

Definitions

  1. plural of amenity; API pl; The quality of being...

Ancestry of “amenities”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchaméniténiceness; agreeableness
2Latinamoenitās—
3Latinamoenuscharming, pleasant, agreeable; lovely,...
4LatinminoI drive; I impel; I threaten
5Latinminorcomparative degree of parvus; lesser, inferior,...
6Latinminaeprojecting points, pinnacles, battlements,...
7Proto-Italic*eksmenā—
Every word from Proto-Italic *eksmenā →