Syn. -- Improvement; reformation; emendation.
A*mends" (&?;), n. sing. & pl. [F. amendes, pl. of amende. Cf. Amende.] Compensation for a loss or injury; recompense; reparation. [Now const. with sing. verb.] "An honorable amends." Addison.
Yet thus far fortune maketh us amends.
Shak.
A*men"i*ty (&?;), n.; pl. Amenities (&?;). [F. aménité, L. amoenitas, fr. amoenus pleasant.] The quality of being pleasant or agreeable, whether in respect to situation, climate, manners, or disposition; pleasantness; civility; suavity; gentleness.
A sweetness and amenity of temper.
Buckle.
This climate has not seduced by its amenities.
W. Howitt.
||A*men`or*rhœ"a (&?;), n. [Gr. 'a priv. + &?; month + &?; to flow: cf. F. aménorrhée.] (Med.) Retention or suppression of the menstrual discharge.
A*men`or*rhœ"al (&?;), a. Pertaining to amenorrhœa.
||A men"sa et tho"ro (&?;). [L., from board and bed.] (Law) A kind of divorce which does not dissolve the marriage bond, but merely authorizes a separate life of the husband and wife. Abbott.
Am"ent (&?;), n. [L. amentum thong or strap.] (Bot.) A species of inflorescence; a catkin.
The globular ament of a buttonwood.
Coues.
Am`en*ta"ceous (&?;), a. [LL. amentaceus.] (Bot.) (a) Resembling, or consisting of, an ament or aments; as, the chestnut has an amentaceous inflorescence. (b) Bearing aments; having flowers arranged in aments; as, amentaceous plants.
||A*men"ti*a (&?;), n. [L.] (Med.) Imbecility; total want of understanding.
Am`en*tif"er*ous (&?;), a. [L. amentum + -ferous.] (Bot.) Bearing catkins. Balfour.
A*men"ti*form (&?;), a. [L. amentum + -form.] (Bot.) Shaped like a catkin.
||A*men"tum (&?;), n.; pl. Amenta (&?;). Same as Ament.
Am"e*nuse (&?;), v. t. [OF. amenuisier. See Minute.] To lessen. [Obs.] Chaucer.
A*merce" (*mrs"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Amerced (*mrst"); p. pr. & vb. n. Amercing.] [OF. amercier, fr. a merci at the mercy of, liable to a punishment. See Mercy.] 1. To punish by a pecuniary penalty, the amount of which is not fixed by law, but left to the discretion of the court; as, the court amerced the criminal in the sum of one hundred dollars.
The penalty or fine may be expressed without a preposition, or it may be introduced by in, with, or of.