affable
adjUK, US /ˈæf.ə.bəl/
Etymology Borrowed from French affable, from Latin affābilis, from affor (“to address”), from ad + for (“to speak, to talk”). See fable. By surface analysis, af- + fable.
1
Receiving others kindly and conversing with them in a free and friendly manner; friendly, courteous, sociable.
- Furthermore, I may say, that the Sultan was always most affable to me in my interviews with him, even when I had to discuss some missionary questions. In fact, I never saw any traces of the difficulties which Mr. Terrell reported.1912, James Burrill Angell, “chapter ix Mission To The Ottoman Empire”, in The Reminiscences Of James Burrill Angell:
- […] He stood bolt upright instead with his stumpy arms resting comfortably on the backsof the pilot's and co-pilot's seats, pipe in hand, making affable small talk to McWatt and whoever happened to be co-pilot and pointing out amusing trivia in the sky to the two men, who were too busy to be interested.1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “Chief White Halfoat”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 45:
2
Mild; benign.
- During more affable weather, the four friends congregate outside, sometimes leaning their hickory chairs against a "catapa" tree[…]1998, Alexia Maria Kosmider, Tricky Tribal Discourse, page 84:
- Derived terms
- affability, affableness, affably