Make Your Point > Archived Issues > AMITY

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connect today's word to others: Let's talk about being friends. Amity is friendship, and someone amiable is friendly. Even though that noun amity belongs to the same word family as that adjective amiable, I've split the two into separate issues because their usage is so different: we usually talk about amiable people and their amiable behaviors, vs. the amity between countries and other official organizations. Amity comes ultimately from a Latin word for "love," the same one that gave us the name Amy and the adjective a__c_ble, which describes relationships and situations free from hatred. And see if you can recall amity's exact opposite: __mity, literally a "non-friendship," that feeling of hatred or hostility toward another person or group, as if you're enemies. (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "AMITY" Based on a word for "love," the Latin word for "friendship" gave us our English word, "amity." Amity is peaceful friendliness, usually between countries. Pronunciation: AM uh tee Part of speech: Noun, usually the uncountable kind: "their amity," "the amity," "some amity," "a lack of amity." You can also treat "amity" as a countable noun and say "an amity," "a long-lasting amity," etc. Other forms: Sometimes, in older texts, we'll see the plural noun "amities," meaning "friendly relations, or actions that demonstrate friendship." For the adjective and its related forms, please check out the issue for "amiable." How to use it: "Amity" is a formal word that most often describes peaceful, friendly relationships between entire countries or other large official groups. You might talk about the amity between two groups, or about some group's amity with (or for) another group, or about the amity of a particular time period (that is, the amity that some groups enjoyed at a particular time). Or, talk about a spirit of amity, a sense of amity, a treaty of amity, a token of amity, an occasion filled with amity, a gesture rooted in amity, etc. Or, talk about people and groups living in amity, displaying amity, fostering amity, behaving with amity, speaking with amity, treating each other with amity and so on. Sometimes we add an adjective: a hearty amity, a cross-border amity, a continental amity, international amity, public or private amity, etc. examples: I love that scene in Addams Family Values when Wednesday, acting in a Thanksgiving Day pageant, shatters the false image of amity between the natives and the Europeans, intoning "Wait. We cannot break bread with you. You have taken the land which is rightfully ours..." "Matthew Stanley attributes the relative amity between Christian and atheist scientists to shared ideals such as intellectual freedom."    — Emily Banham, Nature, 5 October 2016 study it: Explain the meaning of "amity" without saying "concord" or "cordiality." try it out: Fill in the blank: "It's a tradition rooted in amity: _____." Example: "It's a tradition rooted in amity: world leaders swapping symbolic or extravagant gifts (even though ours generally wind up in the National Archives)." before you review, play: Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first. Our game last month was "Inspired by, but in no way associated with, Jeopardy!" From the previous issue: 1. Category: WWW. Answer: First seen in print in 1842, it's a sailor's term for a sudden, violent storm. Question: What is a williwaw? 2. Category: Rhyme Three Times. Answer: It's a zippy abbreviation for a course titled "Modern Foreign Governments." Question: What is "Mo Fo Go"? 3. Category: Homophone Pairs. Answer: Utilize the coniferous trees known as Taxus baccata. Question: What is "use yews"? Now, a new game for February: Controversial Catchphrases! This month, let's consider all kinds of important, ongoing controversies in our world. I'll give you a handful of key phrases that people use when they argue over a controversial question, and you try to pinpoint what that question is. I'll be drawing these issues and phrases from ProCon.org, a fantastic resource for understanding controversial issues (and for introducing those issues to your kids). Here's an example: People who argue "yes" say things like "cruel and unethical," "complete nutrition," and "health benefits."  People who argue "no" say things like "healthy saturated fats," "convenient protein source," and "natural part of the cycle of life." What's the question? ... ... ... The question is, "Should people become vegetarian?" (Explore this issue at ProCon.org.) Try this one today: People who argue "yes" say things like "life-saving cures," "similar to human beings," and "no adequate alternative."  People who argue "no" say things like "cruel and inhumane," "alternative methods," and "speciesism." What's the question? review today's word: 1. The exact opposite of AMITY is ENMITY. But a close opposite of AMITY is A. VICE. B. HOSTILITY. C. NEGLIGENCE. 2. We can't _____ amity _____. A. forego .. over a spat that will be forgotten by dinner B. extend .. toward governments who oppress their citizens C. deny .. to children whose behavior renders them unlikeable Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. B 2. B