irenical C2+ Topic:War & Conflict US /aɪˈrɛnɪkəl/ UK /aɪˈriːnɪkəl/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 adj tending toward peace or reconciliation; conciliatory The diplomat's irenical proposals softened the hostility on both sides. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · tending toward peace or... conciliatorypeaceablepacificplacatorypeacemaking ↔ Opposites contentiousbelligerentpolemical Word family Derived forms irenically Related forms irenicirenics Etymology AI details From Ancient Greek eirenikos 'peaceful' (from eirene 'peace') plus the suffix -al. eirenikos Ancient Greek eirene Ancient Greek View etymology graph -> Topics War & Conflict Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # irenical **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /aɪˈrɛnɪkəl/ **IPA (UK):** /aɪˈriːnɪkəl/ ## Meanings 1. tending toward peace or reconciliation; conciliatory ## Examples - The diplomat's irenical proposals softened the hostility on both sides. ## Synonyms - conciliatory - peaceable - pacific - placatory - peacemaking ## Antonyms - contentious - belligerent - polemical ## Derived Forms - irenically ## Related Forms - irenic - irenics ## Roots and Affixes - Root: eirenikos - Root: eirene ## Etymology From Ancient Greek eirenikos 'peaceful' (from eirene 'peace') plus the suffix -al. ## AI Etymology irenical comes from Ancient Greek eirenikos 'peaceful' (from eirene 'peace') plus the suffix -al. Morphologically, the ending is part of the etymology: the suffix is attached to the older base named in the history, producing a later English derivative. In present English, the adjective sense is "tending toward peace or reconciliation; conciliatory", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as irenic and irenics, and in derivatives such as irenically. Its semantic neighborhood includes conciliatory, peaceable, pacific, and placatory, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Ancient Greek eirenikos and Ancient Greek eirene. ## Topics - War & Conflict - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown