Make Your Point > Archived Issues > ENMITY

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

explore the archives: Enmity, which means "hostility or unfriendly relations," is the exact opposite of amity, "friendliness, friendly relations." Those two words look so much alike because they're both based on the Latin amicus, meaning "friend." That means your enemy is literally your "non-friend," and the enmity between you is literally your "non-friendship." Speaking of friendship, could you recall the following synonyms of friendly?  1. People who are so warm and friendly that they're approachable and chatty are af_____. 2. People who are so sociable and friendly that they're always in a big, lively group are gr________. make your point with... "ENMITY" Enmity is a feeling of hatred or hostility toward someone, as if you're enemies. Enmity is often mutual (meaning it goes both ways), but not always. Pronunciation: EN mih tee Part of speech: Usually, an uncountable noun. (Like "milk," "rice," and "education," uncountable nouns are words for stuff that can’t be broken into exact units. You talk about "some milk," "the rice," and "a lot of education," but you don’t say "a milk," "three rices," or "many educations." Likewise, talk about "this enmity," "their enmity," "such enmity," "no enmity," and so on.) Sometimes, a countable noun. Talk about "enmities" when you mean "feelings of hatred or hostility." Other forms: enmities How to use it: Talk about someone's enmity, the enmity of someone, someone's enmity for or with or toward another person or group, or the enmity between people or groups. Yes, enmity is most often directed at other people, not at things or ideas. But we can also get a bit abstract and talk about people's enmity toward ideas, emotions, or principles. Here's Shakespeare: "I will dispaire and be at enmitie With ... Hope." Most of the time, we talk about people, events, and situations that stoke or stir up enmity, earn or bring forth someone's enmity, feed or fuel enmity, dissolve or overturn enmity, forget or overcome enmity, and so on. Sometimes we'll say one person or group is in enmity with another: "Our company has been in enmity with theirs for so long that we've forgotten why." (Or, at enmity with.) This phrase can get wordy, though. Instead of "They're still in enmity with one another," I suggest "They're still enemies." Although we usually talk about "enmity" as an uncountable noun, we can also talk about "an enmity" or "enmities:" stirring up a fresh political enmity, reviving old enmities, dissolving these timeworn enmities. If you like to get really abstract (and who doesn't?), you can talk about one idea or principle being in enmity with another, meaning that one of the ideas violates the other, or that the two ideas are so different that they hate each other. examples: I adore those SNL skits with Kristen Wiig playing Sue, the lady always at enmity with self-restraint. "So freakin' excited!" Do you kind of miss the days when our enmities manifested in handwritten notes heavy on the exclamation points, and spitballs? study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "enmity" means when you can explain it without saying "animosity" or "strong mutual dislike." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "Between (one person or group) and (another) is (a regrettable enmity / nothing but enmity / a lingering enmity, etc.)." Example: "Between the media and the administration is a regrettable enmity." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Our game this month is called "Cousins or Strangers?" Consider two pairs of similar-looking words, and figure out which pair are truly related, like cousins, and which pair are unrelated, like strangers. "Related," of course, is a relative concept (ha ha). We're interested in closeness: "compute" and "computer" are sisters, or variations of the same word; "vision" and "video" are cousins, sharing the same Latin root; but "compute" and "video" are strangers. From our previous issue: Pair A: TERRIBLE and TERRIFIC. These are the cousins, both from the Latin terrere, "to fill with fear." "Terrific" originally meant "frightening."  Pair B: GAS (FUEL) and GAS (THE STATE OF MATTER). If you're annoyed that gas is a liquid, take heart: these are the strangers. "Gas," the state of matter, may have come from the Greek word meaning "empty space:" khaos. (Yes, the one that gave us "chaos.") But sources suggest that the origin of "gasoline" is commercial. In Britain around 1862, John Cassell was selling lighting oil that he called "cazeline." Then an unknown Dubliner copied the product and sold it as "gazeline." Sources don't connect the dots here, but somehow we ended up pumping "gasoline" into our cars. Ready to check out two more pairs? Remember, one pair will be cousins; the other, strangers. Which is which? Pair A: ISLE and ISLAND Pair B: LANCE and FREELANCE review today's word: 1. A close opposite of ENMITY is A. RANCOR B. PARTNER C. RAPPORT 2. He has _____ and no longer bears any enmity toward them. A. grown apart from his childhood friends B. given up his two most expensive hobbies C. spoken frankly with his sisters after a decade of silence Answers are below. a final word: To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. C