amenity
nounUK /əˈmiːnəti/ · AU, US /əˈmɛnəti/
Etymology Inherited from Middle English amenite, amenyte, partly from Middle French amenité and partly from its etymon, Latin amoenitās (“pleasantness, delightfulness”), from amoenus (“pleasant, delightful”), of unknown origin.
1
Pleasantness.
- We especially enjoyed the amenity of the climate on our last holiday.
- The harbor of Port Royal, rendered gloomy by recollections of misery, was avoided; and after searching the coast and discovering places, which were so full of amenity, that melancholy itself could not but change its humor, as it gazed, the followers of Calvin planted themselves on the banks of the river May.1834, George Bancroft, “Spaniards in the United States”, in History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent, volume I (Colonial History), Boston, Mass.: Charles Bowen; London: R. J. Kennett, →OCLC, page 71:
2
A thing or circumstance that is welcome and makes life a little easier or more pleasant; a public facility.
- All the little amenities the hotel provided made our stay very enjoyable.
- The complex includes the usual (public) utilities (such as gas and electricity) and amenities like wifi and a gym (its toilets with toiletries included too).
1 more example
- The Castle is an antique extent of ground, which now they call Marsfield, and would have ben a fitting area to have plac’d the Ducal palace in. The suburbs are large, the prospects sweete, with other amenities, not omitting the flower gardens, in which all the inhabitants excel.1671 October 26 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 17 October 1671]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 445:
3
Convenience.
4
Cartography, Geography, Natural sciences A unit pertaining to the infrastructure of a community, such as a public toilet, a postbox, a library, etc.
- Suburbia was the prescribed antidote to the dreariness of the hypertrophied industrial city—and most American cities had never been anything but that. They were short on amenity, overcrowded, and artless. Americans were sick of them and saw no way to improve them.2005, James Howard Kunstler, The Long Emergency, Grove Atlantic, page 40:
- Derived terms
- amenities, amenity block, amenity fee, amenity tree, civic amenity site, communal amenity, disamenity, public amenity
- Related terms
- amene