| 释义 |
affability|æfəˈbɪlɪtɪ|
[a. Fr. affabilité (14th c. in Litt.) n. of quality f. affable: see -bility.]
The quality of being affable; readiness to converse or be addressed—especially by inferiors or equals; courteousness, civility, openness of manner.
1483Caxton Cato a iiij b, Drawe and enclyne hym to loue and affabylite. 1531Elyot Governour (1580) 95 Affability..is also where a man speaketh courteysly with a sweet speach or countenance, wherewith the hearers (as it were with a delycate odour) be refreshed and allured to love him. 1603T. Wilson in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 246 III. 201 That gracious affabilitye which ther good old Queen did afford them. 1656Trapp Expos. Luke xv. i. (1868) 328/2 Affability easily allureth, austerity discourageth. 1774Mrs. Chapone Improv. Mind I. 168 Treat..inferiors..always with affability. 1855Thackeray Newcomes xxviii. 281 Greeting the other two gentlemen with his usual politeness and affability. |