different between affable vs companionable

English

Etymology

French affable, Latin aff?bilis, from affor (“I address”), from ad + for (“speak, talk”). See fable.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?æf.?.b?l/

Adjective

affable (comparative more affable, superlative most affable)

1. Receiving others kindly and conversing with them in a free and friendly manner; friendly, courteous, sociable.
   • 1912: James Burrill Angell, The Reminiscences Of James Burrill Angell, chapter ix "Mission To The Ottoman Empire"

     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.

2. Mild; benign.
   • 1998: Alexia Maria Kosmider, Tricky Tribal Discourse, page 84

     During more affable weather, the four friends congregate outside, sometimes leaning their hickory chairs against a "catapa" tree...

Synonyms

• (friendly, courteous): accessible, civil, complaisant, courteous, friendly, gracious, personable
• (mild, benign): benign, mild, warm

Antonyms

• inaffable

Derived terms

• affability
• affableness
• affably

Related terms

Translations

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “affable”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin aff?bilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.fabl/
• Rhymes: -abl
• Homophone: affables

Adjective

affable (plural affables)

1. affable, amicable, sociable

Related terms

• affablement
• affabuler
• affabilité

Further reading

• “affable” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

companion +? -able

Adjective

companionable (comparative more companionable, superlative most companionable)

1. Having the characteristics of a worthy companion; friendly and sociable.

   • She returned presently, bringing a smoking basin and a basket of work; and, having placed the former on the hob, drew in her seat, evidently pleased to find me so companionable.

   • 1854, Henry David Thoreau, Walden, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., 1910, Chapter V, p. 178, [1]

     I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.

   • 1887, Benvenuto Cellini, Autobiography, translated by John Addington Symonds, New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1910, Chapter CXXI, p. 240, [2]

     All the disagreeable circumstances of my prison had become, as it were, to me friendly and companionable; not one of them gave me annoyance.

   • 1908, G. K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday, New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1910, Chapter IX, p. 154, [3]

     Then he strolled back again, kicking his heels carelessly, and a companionable silence fell between the three men.

   • 1914, James Stephens, The Demi-Gods, New York: Macmillan, 1921, Book II, pp. 126-7, [4]

     They are a companionable food; they make a pleasant, crunching noise when they are bitten, and so, when one is eating carrots, one can listen to the sound of one's eating and make a story from it.

   • 1992, Toni Morrison, Jazz, New York: Vintage, 2004, p. 100,

     Bottles of rye, purgative waters and eaux for every conceivable toilette made a companionable click in his worn carpet bag.

Derived terms

Translations