amenity

noun

Etymology: Inherited from Middle English amenite, amenyte, partly from Middle French amenité and partly from its etymon, Latin amoenitās (“pleasantness, delightfulness”), from amoenus (“pleasant, delightful”), of unknown origin.

1. Pleasantness.

   “We especially enjoyed the amenity of the climate on our last holiday.”

   “The harbor of Port Royal, rendered gloomy by recollections of misery, was avoided; and after searching the coast and discovering places, which were so full of amenity, that melancholy itself could not but change its humor, as it gazed, the followers of Calvin planted themselves on the banks of the river May.”

2. A thing or circumstance that is welcome and makes life a little easier or more pleasant; a public facility.

   “All the little amenities the hotel provided made our stay very enjoyable.”

   “The complex includes the usual (public) utilities (such as gas and electricity) and amenities like wifi and a gym (its toilets with toiletries included too).”

3. Convenience.
4. A unit pertaining to the infrastructure of a community, such as a public toilet, a postbox, a library, etc.

   “Suburbia was the prescribed antidote to the dreariness of the hypertrophied industrial city—and most American cities had never been anything but that. They were short on amenity, overcrowded, and artless. Americans were sick of them and saw no way to improve them.”