amicable
/ˈæ.mɪ.kə.bəl/adjective
amicable is spelled A-M-I-C-A-B-L-E: 8 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,017th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “amiable vs amicable” about 4,400 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, amicable means “Showing friendliness or goodwill” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in amicable?
| Letters | 8: A-M-I-C-A-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 30,017th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is amicable?
Amicable appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,017th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce amicable?
- /ˈæ.mɪ.kə.bəl/
Amicable has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-amicable.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with amicable
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of amicable
- more amicable comparative
- most amicable superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does amicable mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Showing friendliness or goodwill.
They hoped to reach an amicable agreement.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Amicable in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense showing friendliness or goodwill:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | amiable, amical |
| German | einvernehmlich, freundlich, freundschaftlich, gütlich, liebenswürdig |
| Portuguese | amigável |
| Spanish | amigable |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does amicable come from?
From Middle English amicable (“agreeable; pleasant”), from Late Latin amīcābilis (“friendly”). Doublet of amiable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).