When people have an amicable agreement or an amicable relationship, they stay friendly and do not want to quarrel. You hear this word most when something could have turned ugly — a divorce, a business split, two neighbours arguing over a wall — and then it did not. “They parted on amicable terms” means they walked away without a fight, or at least they are trying to look that way. It is a calm, slightly formal word. You would not call a warm, laughing friendship amicable; that sounds too cool and legal. Though actually, amicable is not the same as amiable: amiable is usually a person who is warm and easy to like; amicable is the mood between people, especially when they might have fought but kept things civil.