[Printer Friendly Version]   [How to E-mail This Article to AFriend]

WORD OF THE DAY: Affable, Weekly Words

affable  •   \AF-uh-bul\  •  adjective

*1 : being pleasant and at ease in talking to others
2 : characterized by ease and friendliness

Example sentence:

Betty's father was so affable that when her friends came over they'd usually end up sitting and chatting with him.


Did you know?

"Affable" is one of several English words that evolved from the Latin verb "fari," which means "to speak." "Affable" comes from the Latin "affabilis," which comes from the "fari" relative "affari" ("to speak to"), plus "-abilis," meaning "able." Some other "fari" derivatives are "infant," "fable," and "fate." "Infant" comes from the Latin "infans," which means "incapable of speech" and combines "in-" and "fans," the present participle of "fari." "Fable" comes from the Latin "fabula," a "fari" offspring that means "conversation." "Fate" comes from the Latin word "fatum," meaning "what has been spoken" and deriving from "fatus," a past participle of "fari."


Word Definition/s and Example Information provided by Merrian-Webster Online. Visit them at M-w.com, or view today's word information from them at: http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/mwwodarch.pl?Sep.27.2006.

Write your own story telling us what you think about this week'sword!