amity
noun
friendship; peaceful harmony.
amity
1 American
[am-i-tee]
/ ˈæm ɪ ti /
noun
-
friendship; peaceful harmony.
-
mutual understanding and a peaceful relationship, especially between nations; peace; accord.
Amity
2
American
[am-i-tee]
/ ˈæm ɪ ti /
noun
amity
British
/ ˈæmɪtɪ /
noun
Etymology
Origin of amity
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English amit(i)e, from Middle French amitie, Old French amiste(t), from unattested Vulgar Latin amicitāt-, stem of amīcitās, derivative of Latin amīcus; see ami, amiable, -ity
Explanation
The word amity refers to a peaceful, friendly nature, much like the French word ami, or "friend." From the Latin amicus, "friend," amity means "friendly relations." That strong sense of friendship lends irony to the name of the book, and later the movie, called The Amityville Horror, about a horrifying town with a weirdly cheerful name. In truth, though, amity means "mutual understanding and peace." Wouldn't it be nice if all of the world's nations lived in amity?
Vocabulary lists containing amity
All You Need is Love: Amor and Phil
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Beowulf vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Tuesday’s memorial ceremonies for Sen. Lindsey Graham were a rare moment of amity in today’s bitter politics of Washington.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
With that, the funeral mass ends, as does the sibling amity.
From Salon ● May 22, 2023
He once said people filed cases against him because he was fighting for Hindu-Muslim amity.
From BBC ● May 14, 2023
He lamented the fading of such cross-party amity.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 11, 2021
Don found this frustrating and he called me Qhipu more in irritation than in amity.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
On this date in 1778, the U.S. and France signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
He was a foster kid, he told me, who had been plucked from the system by the founder of Amity, a woman who had been incarcerated herself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 26, 2023
"No one wants a shark attack to occur, but these bans are just creating the same fear as generated on the ill-fated Amity Island in Jaws. It's just not the right way to go."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 14, 2023
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kulbela signed the “Treaty on Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia” as the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations got underway in Phnom Penh.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 9, 2022
I was given a yellow Amity shirt and black Candor pants earlier as a result of that particular edict.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
