friend.
A person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
Meaning & usage
A person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
John and I have been friends ever since we were roommates at college.
Trust is important between friends.
An associate who provides assistance; patron, mentor.
The Automobile Association is every motorist's friend. The police is every law-abiding citizen's friend.
A person with whom one is vaguely or indirectly acquainted.
a friend of a friend
I added him as a friend on Facebook, but I hardly know him.
A person who backs or supports something.
I’m not a friend of cheap wine.
An object or idea that can be used for good.
Fruit is your friend.
Used as a form of address when warning someone.
You’d better watch it, friend.
A function or class granted special access to the private and protected members of another class.
A spring-loaded camming device.
A lover; a boyfriend or girlfriend.
A relative, a relation by blood or marriage.
Used to refer collectively to a group of associated individuals, especially those comprising a cast, company, or crew
Meanwhile on The View, Whoopi Goldberg and friends continue to spout their takes on the hot topics of the day.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *preyH- Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *priHós Proto-Germanic *frijōną Proto-Germanic *frijōndz Proto-West Germanic *friund Old English frēond Middle English frend English friend From Middle English freend, frend, frende, freynde, friend, frind, frond, frund, vrend, vryend, from Old English frēond, frīond (“friend”, literally “loving [one], lover”), from Proto-West Germanic *friund, from Proto-Germanic *frijōndz (“friend, loved one”), from Proto-Indo-European *preyH- (“to please; to love”), roughly equivalent to free + -nd. See also Friday. 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”), Limburgish vröndj (“friend”), Luxembourgish Frënd (“friend”), Vilamovian fraeind, frajnd (“friend”), Yiddish פֿרײַנד (fraynd, “friend”), Danish frænde (“kinsman”), Faroese and Icelandic frændi (“kinsman”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk frende (“relative”), Swedish frände (“kinsman, relative”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌾𐍉𐌽𐌳𐍃 (frijōnds, “friend”); also Welsh rhydd (“free”), Latin proprius (“own, proper”), Belarusian пры́яцель (prýjacjelʹ, “friend”), Bulgarian прия́тел (prijátel, “male friend”), Czech přítel (“friend; supporter; lover”), Macedonian при́јател (príjatel, “friend, mate, pal”), Polish przyjaciel, przyjáciel (“friend; lover”), Russian прия́тель (prijátelʹ, “friend; buddy, mate, pal”), Serbo-Croatian при̏јатељ, prȉjatelj (“friend”), Slovak priateľ (“friend; supporter”), Slovene prijatelj (“friend; companion; chum”), Ukrainian при́ятель (prýjatelʹ, “friend; buddy, pal”), Avestan 𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 (friia, “good, pleasant”), Persian فری (fari, “beloved, dear; pleasing”), Sanskrit प्रिय (priya, “beloved; own, wonted”). More at free.
To act as a friend to, to befriend; to be friendly to, to help.
To add (a person) to a list of friends on a social networking site; to officially designate (someone) as a friend.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *preyH- Proto-Indo-European *-ós Proto-Indo-European *priHós Proto-Germanic *frijōną Proto-Germanic *frijōndz Proto-West Germanic *friund Old English frēond Middle English frend English friend From Middle English freend, frend, frende, freynde, friend, frind, frond, frund, vrend, vryend, from Old English frēond, frīond (“friend”, literally “loving [one], lover”), from Proto-West Germanic *friund, from Proto-Germanic *frijōndz (“friend, loved one”), from Proto-Indo-European *preyH- (“to please; to love”), roughly equivalent to free + -nd. See also Friday. 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”), Limburgish vröndj (“friend”), Luxembourgish Frënd (“friend”), Vilamovian fraeind, frajnd (“friend”), Yiddish פֿרײַנד (fraynd, “friend”), Danish frænde (“kinsman”), Faroese and Icelandic frændi (“kinsman”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk frende (“relative”), Swedish frände (“kinsman, relative”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌾𐍉𐌽𐌳𐍃 (frijōnds, “friend”); also Welsh rhydd (“free”), Latin proprius (“own, proper”), Belarusian пры́яцель (prýjacjelʹ, “friend”), Bulgarian прия́тел (prijátel, “male friend”), Czech přítel (“friend; supporter; lover”), Macedonian при́јател (príjatel, “friend, mate, pal”), Polish przyjaciel, przyjáciel (“friend; lover”), Russian прия́тель (prijátelʹ, “friend; buddy, mate, pal”), Serbo-Croatian при̏јатељ, prȉjatelj (“friend”), Slovak priateľ (“friend; supporter”), Slovene prijatelj (“friend; companion; chum”), Ukrainian при́ятель (prýjatelʹ, “friend; buddy, pal”), Avestan 𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 (friia, “good, pleasant”), Persian فری (fari, “beloved, dear; pleasing”), Sanskrit प्रिय (priya, “beloved; own, wonted”). More at free.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.