friend
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: frĕnd
ipa: /fɹɛnd/
ipa: [fɹ̥ɛnd]
ipa: [fɹ̥ɛnd̥]
note: with pin–pen merger
ipa: /frɪnd/
rhymes: -ɛnd
Forms: form: friends
Etymology: From Middle English frend, freend, from Old English frēond (“friend”, literally “loving [one], lover”), from Proto-West Germanic *friund, from Proto-Germanic *frijōndz (“lover, friend”), from Proto-Indo-European *preyH- (“to love”), roughly equivalent to free + -nd.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots freend (“friend”), Yola friend, vriene (“friend”), North Frisian frinj, frün (“friend”), Saterland Frisian Fjund, Früünd (“friend”), West Frisian freon, freondinne (“friend”), Cimbrian bròint, vròint (“friend”), Dutch vriend (“friend”), German Freund (“friend”), German Low German Fründ (“friend, relative”), Luxembourgish Frënd (“friend”), Vilamovian fraeind, frajnd (“friend”), Yiddish פֿרײַנד (fraynd, “friend”), Danish frænde (“kinsman”), Faroese, Icelandic frændi (“kinsman”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk frende (“relative”), Swedish frände (“kinsman, relative”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌾𐍉𐌽𐌳𐍃 (frijōnds, “friend”). More at free.
Akin to Russian прия́тель (prijátelʹ, “friend”), Romanian prieten, and Sanskrit प्रिय (priyá-, “beloved”).
Senses: examples: text: "[…]if you have any wish to speak openly to me as a friend, or to ask my opinion of any thing that you may have in contemplation—as a friend, indeed, you may command me.—I will hear whatever you like. I will tell you exactly what I think." "As a friend!"—repeated Mr. Knightley.—"Emma, that I fear is a word—No, I have no wish—[…]”
ref: 1816, Jane Austen, Emma:
text: The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.
ref: 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Friendship”, in Essays, volume I:
text: ...if you consider any man a friend whom you do not trust as you trust yourself, you are mightily mistaken and you do not sufficiently understand what true friendship means.
ref: 1917, Richard M. Gummere translating Seneca as Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales, Loeb Classical Library, Vol. I, No. 3
text: ...he who looks upon a true friend, looks, as it were, upon a sort of image of himself. Wherefore friends, though absent, are at hand; though in need, yet abound; though weak, are strong; and—harder saying still—though dead, are yet alive; so great is the esteem on the part of their friends, the tender recollection and the deep longing that still attends them.
ref: 1923, William Armistead Falconer translating Cicero as De Amicitia, Loeb Classical Library, Vol. XX, p. 34
text: ...you are my devoted friend too. You do more and work harder and oh shit I'd get maudlin about how damned swell you are. My god I'd like to see you... You're a hell of a good guy.
ref: 1927 Mar. 31, Ernest Hemingway, letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald
text: Definition of a friend: One who walks in—when the rest of the world walks out.
ref: 1933 Dec. 12, Walter Winchell, "On Broadway", Scranton Republican, p. 5
text: John and I have been friends ever since we were roommates at college. Trust is important between friends. I used to find it hard to make friends when I was shy.
text: We became friends in the war and remain friends to this day. We were friends with some girls from the other school and stayed friends with them.
glosses: A person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
examples: text: When I was a child of seven years old, my friends, on a holiday, filled my little pocket with halfpence.
ref: 1779, Benjamin Franklin, The Whistle (letter):
text: The vicious propensities—the want of principle which he was careful to guard from the knowledge of his best friend, could not escape the observation of a young man of nearly the same age with himself, and who had opportunities of seeing him in unguarded moments, which Mr. Darcy could not have.
ref: 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice:
text: There was a Boy whose name was Jim; His Friends were very good to him. They gave him Tea, and Cakes, and Jam, And slices of delicious Ham, And Chocolate with pink inside, And little Tricycles to ride, And read him Stories through and through, And even took him to the Zoo—
ref: 1907, Hilaire Belloc, Jim (poem):
text: The Automobile Association is every motorist's friend. The police is every law-abiding citizen's friend.
glosses: An associate who provides assistance; patron, mentor.
examples: text: The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",[…]and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.
ref: 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27:
text: a friend of a friend
text: I added him as a friend on Facebook, but I hardly know him.
glosses: A person with whom one is vaguely or indirectly acquainted.
examples: text: I’m not a friend of cheap wine.
glosses: A person who backs or supports something.
examples: text: Fruit is your friend.
glosses: An object or idea that can be used for good.
examples: text: You’d better watch it, friend.
glosses: Used as a form of address when warning someone.
raw_tags: used only in the vocative
examples: text: But don't take the following sections as an endorsement of friends. Top C++ programmers avoid using friends unless absolutely necessary.
ref: 1991, Tom Swan, Learning C++:
text: In that case, the function needn't (and shouldn't) be a friend.
ref: 2001, Stephen Prata, C++ primer plus:
text: To make a function be a friend to a class, the reserved word friend precedes the function prototype[…]
ref: 2008, D S Malik, C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design:
qualifier: object-oriented programming
glosses: A function or class granted special access to the private and protected members of another class.
examples: text: Since they were introduced in the 1970s, friends have revolutionized climbing, making protection possible in previously impossible places […]
ref: 1995, Rock Climbing Basics:
topics: climbing
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: A spring-loaded camming device.
examples: text: Nor to the motion of a schoolboy's tongue ; Nor never come in visard to my friend
ref: c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
text: Time has been, when a gentleman wanted a friend, I could supply him with choice in an hour; but the market is spoiled, and a body might as soon produce a hare or a partridge […]
ref: 1813, Samuel Foote, The Commissary, Etc., page 17:
text: I met your friend. She's very nice, what can I say?
ref: 1975, Janis Ian, In the Winter:
glosses: A lover; a boyfriend or girlfriend.
examples: text: Friends agree best at a distance.
text: Make friends of framet folk.
text: He was not a drop's blood to me, though him and my wife were far-out friends.
ref: 1895, Crockett, Bog-Myrtle, 232
glosses: A relative, a relation by blood or marriage.
examples: Meanwhile on The View, Whoopi Goldberg and friends continue to issue forced apologies for their assumptive comments regarding non-profit organisation Turning Point USA...
synonyms: company
et al.
qualifier: usually preceded by "and"
glosses: Used to refer collectively to a group of associated individuals, especially those comprising a cast, company, or crew
Synonyms: sense: boyfriend or girlfriend
word: lover
sense: person with whom you are acquainted
word: acquaintance
sense: person with whom you are acquainted
word: contact
sense: person who provides assistance
word: ally
sense: person who backs something
word: admirer
sense: person who backs something
word: booster
sense: person who backs something
word: champion
sense: person who backs something
word: protagonist
sense: person who backs something
word: supporter
sense: form of address used in warning someone
word: buster
sense: form of address used in warning someone
word: mate
sense: form of address used in warning someone
word: pal
sense: form of address used in warning someone
word: buddy
sense: form of address used in warning someone
word: sonny
word: babber
word: billy
word: bredrin
word: bruv
word: bud
word: buddo
word: butty
word: chaver
word: china
word: chuck
word: chum
word: cock
word: cocker
word: cobber
word: compadre
word: comrade
word: companion
word: cove
word: crony
word: dawg
word: dude
word: duck
word: fam
word: fettler
word: friend
word: geez
word: geezer
word: gink
word: good old boy
word: homeskillet
word: homie
word: kith
word: marrow
word: matey
word: mucker
word: old bean
word: pardner
word: peeps
word: shag
word: sport
word: surry
word: tovarish
word: wantok
Hypernyms: word: person
Hyponyms: word: alter ego
word: best friend
word: best friend forever
word: bestie
word: bosom buddy
word: bosom friend
word: fast friend
word: intimate
word: main man
word: squish
word: cyberfriend
word: penfriend
word: pen pal
word: amigo
word: boyfriend
word: guyfriend
word: homeboy
word: amiga
word: chickfriend
word: homegirl
word: girlfriend
Derived terms: affriended
a friend in need is a friend indeed
all-weather friend
asking for a friend
backfriend
back-friend
befriend
best friend
best friend forever
big friend
bosom friend
boy-friend
boy friend
boyfriend
chick-friend
chick friend
childhood friend
circle of friends
close friend
cyberfriend
diamonds are a girl's best friend
Dorothy's friend
dumb friend
e-friend
enbyfriend
enemies-to-friends-to-lovers
ex-friend
fair-weather friend
fair weather friend
fairweather friend
false friend
family friend
fast friend
feathered friend
fine-feathered friend
flu friend
four-legged friend
framily
fremesis
frenemy
friend at court
friendboy
friend boy
friendess
friendful
friendgirl
friend girl
friend group
friendhood
friend-in-law
friendish
friendiversary
friendless
friendlike
friendling
friendlist
friendly
friendmaking
friendo
friend of a friend
friend of Bill
friend of Bill's
friend of Bill W.
friend of Bluey
friend of court
friend of Dorothy
friend of mine
friend of ours
friend of the court
friendom
friend price
friend request
Friends
Friendsgiving
friend-shaped
friendship
friendshiply
friendshoring
friendsies
friends in higher places
friends in high places
friends in low places
friends list
Friendsmas
friendsome
Friendster
friends-to-lovers
friend-to-friend
friend with benefits
friendworthy
friendy
friend-zone
friend zone
friend zonee
friend-zonee
fuckfriend
furriend
galfriend
girlfriend
girl-friend
girl friend
glue friend
good friend
Google is your friend
grandfriend
guy friend
guy-friend
half-friend
hi-bye friend
identification friend or foe
imaginary friend
just friends
lady friend
litigation friend
little friend
make friends
manfriend
man's best friend
McKenzie friend
merfriend
misfriend
m'learned friends
monthly friend
more than friends
motorman's friend
mouth-friend
mutual friend
my enemy's enemy is my friend
my learned friend
nepo friend
nepotism friend
newfriend
next friend
Nigel No Friends
Nigel no-friends
Nigel no friends
non-friend
nonfriend
old friend
old man's friend
outfriend
out-friend
partial false friend
pen-friend
penfriend
pen friend
playfriend
plumber's friend
prisoner's friend
Religious Society of Friends
say hello to my little friend
schoolfriend
semifriend
short accounts make long friends
short reckonings make long friends
Society of Friends
special friend
squirrel friend
stepfriend
superfriend
the enemy of my enemy is my friend
the enemy of your enemy is your friend
theyfriend
true friend
unfriend
un-friend
waiter's friend
what are friends for
wife's best friend
Wigner's friend
with friends like these who needs enemies
womanfriend
Related terms: word: ally
word: bedfellow
word: bedmate
word: childhood friend
word: classmate
word: compatriot
word: co-worker
word: fair-weather friend
word: family friend
word: fellow traveller
word: flatmate
word: frenemy
word: friend of a friend
word: goombah
word: hail fellow well met
word: housemate
word: mouth-friend
word: neighbor
word: neighbour
word: old friend
word: partner in crime
word: playfellow
word: playmate
word: schoolmate
word: roommate
word: roomie
word: acquaintance
word: associate
word: sweetheart