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Webster 1913 Edition


Affable

Af′fa-ble

,
Adj.
[F.
affable
, L.
affabilis
, fr.
affari
to speak to;
ad
+
fari
to speak. See
Fable
.]
1.
Easy to be spoken to or addressed; receiving others kindly and conversing with them in a free and friendly manner; courteous; sociable.
An
affable
and courteous gentleman.
Shakespeare
His manners polite and
affable
.
Macaulay.
2.
Gracious; mild; benign.
A serene and
affable
countenance.
Tatler.
Syn. – Courteous; civil; complaisant; accessible; mild; benign; condescending.

Webster 1828 Edition


Affable

AF'FABLE

,
Adj.
[L. affabilis, of ad and fabulor. See Fable.]
1.
Easy of conversation; admitting others to free conversation without reserve; courteous; complaisant; of easy manners; condescending; usually applied to superiors; as an affable prince.
2.
Applied to external appearance, affable denotes that combination of features, which invites to conversation, and renders a person accessible, opposed to a forbidding aspect; mild; benign; as, an affable countenance.