amicus

English

Etymology

Abbreviation of amicus curiae.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈæm.ɪ.kəs/, /ə.ˈmi.kəs/

Noun

amicus (plural amici)

1. (law, informal) Someone not a party to a case who submits a brief and/or presents oral argument in that case.

Synonyms

• amicus curiae (formal)

Anagrams

• Casium, Macusi, Muisca, amusic, musaic, umiacs

Latin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /aˈmiː.kus/, [äˈmiːkʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /aˈmi.kus/, [äˈmiːkus]

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.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	amīcus	amīca	amīcum		amīcī	amīcae	amīca
Genitive	amīcī	amīcae	amīcī		amīcōrum	amīcārum	amīcōrum
Dative	amīcō		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

2. (Augustan and later) courtier, minister, counsellor

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	amīcus	amīcī
Genitive	amīcī	amīcōrum
Dative	amīcō	amīcīs
Accusative	amīcum	amīcōs
Ablative	amīcō	amīcīs
Vocative	amīce	amīcī

Derived terms

• amīca
• amīcābilis
• amīcālis
• amīcē
• amīciter
• amīcitia
• amīcō
• amīcōsus
• amīculus
• amīcus cūriae
• inimīcus
• peramicus

 

Descendants

• Dalmatian:
  • amaic
• Italo-Romance:
  • Old Italian: amico
    • Corsican: amicu
    • Gallurese: amicu
    • Italian: amico
      • → Romanian: amic
  • Neapolitan: amico
  • Sicilian: amicu
• Padanian:
  • Gallo-Italic:
    • Ligurian: amigo
    • Lombard: amis
    • Piedmontese: amis
    • Romagnol: amìg
  • Friulian: amì
  • Romansch: ami, amitg, amei, amih
  • Venetian: amigo
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: amic
  • Franco-Provençal: ami
  • Old French: ami (see there for further descendants)
  • Occitan: amic
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Aragonese: amigo
  • Asturian: amigu
  • Mirandese: amigo, amio
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: amigo, amig'
    • Galician: amigo
    • Portuguese: amigo
  • Old Spanish: amigo, amygo
    • Ladino: אמיגו, amigo
    • Spanish: amigo (see there for further descendants)
• Insular Romance:
  • Old Sardinian:
    • Sardinian: amigu (most dialects), amicu (Nuorese)
    • Sassarese: amiggu
• Borrowings:
  • → Albanian: mik (early)
  • → Czech: amík
  • → Dutch: amice

References

• “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

Further reading

• “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’s 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.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, 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