friend
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]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 like, love”), equivalent to free + -nd.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Fjund, Früünd (“friend”), West Frisian freon, froen, freondinne (“friend”), Dutch vriend (“friend”), Low German Frund, Fründ (“friend, relative”), Luxembourgish Frënd (“friend”), German Freund (“friend”), Danish frænde (“kinsman”), Swedish frände (“kinsman, relative”), Icelandic frændi (“kinsman”), Welsh ffrind (“friend”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌾𐍉𐌽𐌳𐍃 (frijōnds, “friend”). More at free.
Other cognates include Russian прия́тель (prijátelʹ, “friend”) and Sanskrit प्रिय (priyá-, “beloved”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: frĕnd, IPA(key): /fɹɛnd/, [fɹ̥ɛnd̥]
Audio (Received Pronunciation): (file) Audio (General American): (file) - (dialectal, especially with pin–pen merger) IPA(key): /frɪnd/[1]
- Rhymes: -ɛnd
- Hyphenation: friend
Noun
[edit]friend (plural friends)
- A person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
- 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Friendship”, in Essays, volume I:
- The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.
- 1917, Richard M. Gummere translating Seneca as Ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales, Loeb Classical Library, Vol. I, No. 3:
- ...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.
- 1923, William Armistead Falconer translating Cicero as De Amicitia, Loeb Classical Library, Vol. XX, p. 34:
- ...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.
- 1927 Mar. 31, Ernest Hemingway, letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald:
- 1933 Dec. 12, Walter Winchell, "On Broadway", Scranton Republican, p. 5:
- Definition of a friend: One who walks in—when the rest of the world walks out.
- 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.
- 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.
- An associate who provides assistance.
- 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.
- 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27:
- 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.
- 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.
- (informal) An object or idea that can be used for good.
- Fruit is your friend.
- (colloquial, ironic, used only in the vocative) Used as a form of address when warning someone.
- You’d better watch it, friend.
- (object-oriented programming) A function or class granted special access to the private and protected members of another class.
- 1991, Tom Swan, Learning C++:
- But don't take the following sections as an endorsement of friends. Top C++ programmers avoid using friends unless absolutely necessary.
- 2001, Stephen Prata, C++ primer plus:
- In that case, the function needn't (and shouldn't) be a friend.
- 2008, D S Malik, C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design:
- To make a function be a friend to a class, the reserved word
friend
precedes the function prototype […]
- (climbing) A spring-loaded camming device.
- 1995, Rock Climbing Basics:
- Since they were introduced in the 1970s, friends have revolutionized climbing, making protection possible in previously impossible places […]
- (euphemistic) A lover; a boyfriend or girlfriend.
- 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]:
- Nor to the motion of a schoolboy's tongue ; Nor never come in visard to my friend
- 1813, Samuel Foote, The Commissary, Etc., page 17:
- 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 […]
- 1975, Janis Ian, In the Winter:
- I met your friend. She's very nice, what can I say?
- (Scotland, obsolete) A relative, a relation by blood or marriage.
- Friends agree best at a distance.
- Make friends of framet folk.
- 1895, Crockett, Bog-Myrtle, 232:
- He was not a drop's blood to me, though him and my wife were far-out friends.
- (in the plural, usually preceded by "and") Used to refer collectively to a group of associated individuals, especially those comprising a cast, company, or crew
- Synonyms: and company, et al.
- Meanwhile on The View, Whoopi Goldberg and friends continue to issue forced apologies for their assumptive comments regarding non-profit organisation Turning Point USA...
Usage notes
[edit]- friends is found as an invariable plural in the phrases make friends with and be friends with: I am friends with her; He made friends with his co-worker.
- We usually make a friend, or make friends with someone. See Appendix:Collocations of do, have, make, and take
- In older texts and certain dialects, the prepositional phrase to friend means "as a friend or an ally", for exampleː "with God to frend (Spenser)". The antonym to the phrase to friend is to fiend.
Synonyms
[edit]- (person whose company one enjoys): See Thesaurus:friend
- (boyfriend or girlfriend): See Thesaurus:lover
- (person with whom you are acquainted): acquaintance, contact
- (person who provides assistance): ally
- (person who backs something): admirer, booster, champion, protagonist, supporter
- (form of address used in warning someone): buster, mate (British), pal, buddy, sonny
Antonyms
[edit]- (antonym(s) of “person whose company one enjoys”): See Thesaurus:enemy
- (antonym(s) of “person with whom you are acquainted”): stranger
- (antonym(s) of “person who provides assistance”): enemy, foe
Derived terms
[edit]- 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
- boyfriend
- boy-friend
- boy friend
- 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
- ex-friend
- fair weather friend
- fairweather friend
- fair-weather 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
- friendboy
- friendess
- friendful
- friendgirl
- friend girl
- friendgirl
- friendhood
- 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 court
- friend of Dorothy
- friend of mine
- friend of ours
- friendom
- friend request
- Friends
- friend-shaped
- friendship
- friendshiply
- friendshoring
- friendsies
- friends in high places
- friends list
- friendsome
- Friendster
- friend-to-friend
- friend with benefits
- friendworthy
- friendy
- friend zone
- friend-zone
- friend zonee
- friend-zonee
- fuckfriend
- furriend
- galfriend
- girl-friend
- girlfriend
- girl 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
- manfriend
- man's best friend
- McKenzie friend
- merfriend
- misfriend
- 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
- nonfriend
- non-friend
- old friend
- old man's friend
- outfriend
- out-friend
- partial false friend
- penfriend
- pen friend
- pen-friend
- playfriend
- plumber's friend
- prisoner's friend
- say hello to my little friend
- schoolfriend
- semifriend
- 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
- un-friend
- unfriend
- waiter's friend
- wife's best friend
- Wigner's friend
- with friends like these who needs enemies
- womanfriend
Descendants
[edit]- Jamaican Creole: fren
- Krio: frɛn
- → Cantonese: friend (fen1)
- → Finnish: frendi
- → Serbo-Croatian:
- → Spanish: friend
Translations
[edit]Verb
[edit]friend (third-person singular simple present friends, present participle friending, simple past and past participle friended)
- (transitive, obsolete) To act as a friend to, to befriend; to be friendly to, to help.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.ii:
- Lo sluggish Knight the victors happie pray: / So fortune friends the bold [...].
- 1896, Alfred Edward Housman, A Shropshire Lad, section LXII:
- ’Tis true, the stuff I bring for sale
Is not so brisk a brew as ale:
Out of a stem that scored the hand
I wrung it in a weary land.
But take it: if the smack is sour,
The better for the embittered hour;
It should do good to heart and head
When your soul is in my soul’s stead;
And I will friend you, if I may,
In the dark and cloudy day.
- (transitive) To add (a person) to a list of friends on a social networking site; to officially designate (someone) as a friend.
- 2006, David Fono and Kate Raynes-Goldie, "Hyperfriendship and Beyond: Friends and Social Norms on LiveJournal" (PDF version), Internet Research Annual Volume 4, Peter Lang, →ISBN, page 99,
- The difference between responses to the statement, "If someone friends me, I will friend them," and "If I friend someone, I expect them to friend me back," is telling.
- 2006, Kevin Farnham, Dale G. Farnham, Myspace Safety: 51 Tips for Teens And Parents[2], How-To Primers, →ISBN, page 69:
- One of the most used features of MySpace is the practice that is nicknamed "friending." If you "friend" someone, then that person is added to your MySpace friends list, and you are added to their friends list.
- 2006, David Fono and Kate Raynes-Goldie, "Hyperfriendship and Beyond: Friends and Social Norms on LiveJournal" (PDF version), Internet Research Annual Volume 4, Peter Lang, →ISBN, page 99,
Synonyms
[edit]- (to act as the friend of): befriend
Antonyms
[edit]Translations
[edit]
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References
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “friend”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
[edit]Chinese
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]friend
- (Cantonese) friend (Classifier: 個/个 c)
- 我個friend話:「唔會衰嘅,邊有咁容易吖,世界咁多人死又唔見你去死。」 [Cantonese, trad.]
- From: 2008, 李紫媚 (Jessica Li), 《盜與罪:青少年犯罪預防理論與對策》 (Theft and delinquency: juvenile crime prevention theories and practice), page 180
- ngo5 go3 fen1 waa6: “m4 wui5 seoi1 ge3, bin1 jau5 gam3 jung4 ji6 aa1, sai3 gaai3 gam3 do1 jan4 sei2 jau6 m4 gin3 nei5 heoi3 sei2.” [Jyutping]
- My friend said, "It's not gonna go wrong. It's not that easy [to go wrong]. There are so many people in the world, and I don't see you dying."
我个friend话:「唔会衰嘅,边有咁容易吖,世界咁多人死又唔见你去死。」 [Cantonese, simp.]- 喂,乜你班friend咁踢波嘅,係咪有啲唔對路? [Cantonese, trad.]
- From: 2015, Playboy 文 (pseudonym), 《港股策略王》, issue 18, page 69
- wai2, mat1 nei5 baan1 fen1 gam2 tek3 bo1 ge2, hai6 mai6 jau5 di1 m4 deoi3 lou6? [Jyutping]
- Hey, how come your friends play soccer like this. Is there some problem?
喂,乜你班friend咁踢波嘅,系咪有啲唔对路? [Cantonese, simp.]- 我個friend叫我去佢屋企坐吓,但又唔話我知佢女友喺度,搞到我變咗做電燈膽。 [Cantonese, trad.]
- From: 2016, 董德偉, 《英語講呢D》, page 101
- ngo5 go3 fen1 giu3 ngo5 heoi3 keoi5 uk1 kei2 co5 haa5, daan6 jau6 m4 waa6 ngo5 zi1 keoi5 neoi5 jau5 hai2 dou6, gaau2 dou3 ngo5 bin3 zo2 zou6 din6 dang1 daam2. [Jyutping]
- When my friend invited me to hang out at his house but he didn't tell me that his girlfriend would be there too, he made me a third wheel.
我个friend叫我去佢屋企坐吓,但又唔话我知佢女友喺度,搞到我变咗做电灯胆。 [Cantonese, simp.]
- (Cantonese, always with the classifier) the likes of; something similar to (Classifier: 啲 c)
-
- 警方昨向黃發信,指漫畫提到假新聞是從「少年警訊啲friend傳出嚟㗎」,對漫畫的無理指控表達強烈不滿和關注,要求澄清。 [Cantonese, trad.]
- ging2 fong1 zok3 hoeng3 wong4 faat3 seon3, zi2 maan6 waa6-2 tai4 dou3 gaa2 san1 man4 si6 cung4 “siu3 nin4 ging2 seon3 di1 fen1 cyun4 ceot1 lai4 gaa3”, deoi3 maan6 waa6-2 dik1 mou4 lei5 zi2 hung3 biu2 daat6 koeng4 lit6 bat1 mun5 wo4 gwaan1 zyu3, jiu1 kau4 cing4 cing1. [Jyutping]
- The police sent a letter to Wong yesterday, claiming the comic had mentioned that the fake news was “spread out from the likes of Junior Police Call”. They expressed strong dissatisfaction and attention towards the unreasonable accusation by the comic, requesting a clarification.
警方昨向黄发信,指漫画提到假新闻是从「少年警讯啲friend传出嚟㗎」,对漫画的无理指控表达强烈不满和关注,要求澄清。 [Cantonese, simp.]
-
Synonyms
[edit]- (friend):
Adjective
[edit]friend
- (Cantonese) in a close or friendly relationship
- 我叫奧古,和她識了很多年,算係好friend下。 [Cantonese, trad.]
- From: 2013, 董啟章 (Dung Kai-cheung), 《體育時期(劇場版)【上學期】》, page 124
- ngo5 giu3 ou3 gu2, wo4 taa1 sik1 liu5 han2 do1 nin4, syun3 hai6 hou2 fen1 haa5. [Jyutping]
- My name is Ou Gu. I knew her for many years, so we are pretty close.
我叫奥古,和她识了很多年,算系好friend下。 [Cantonese, simp.]- 我唔想我哋只係喺呢段時間Friend返,我想我哋變返以前咁,Friend到乜都傾,平時大家有啲咩都會搵大家講。 [Cantonese, trad.]
- From: 2015, 少少肥 (pseudonym), 《自修室‧學界嘅蘭桂坊》, page 243
- ngo5 m4 soeng2 ngo5 dei6 zi2 hai6 hai2 ni1 dyun6 si4 gaan3 fen1 faan1, ngo5 soeng2 ngo5 dei6 bin3 faan1 ji5 cin4 gam2, fen1 dou3 mat1 dou1 king1, ping4 si4 daai6 gaa1 jau5 di1 me1 dou1 wui5 wan2 daai6 gaa1 gong2. [Jyutping]
- I don't want us to just be close for this while. I want us to turn back into how we were before, when we were so close that we would chat about anything, when we would normally look for each other to talk if anything happens.
我唔想我哋只系喺呢段时间Friend返,我想我哋变返以前咁,Friend到乜都倾,平时大家有啲咩都会揾大家讲。 [Cantonese, simp.]- 不過始終大家都係細路,好快就friend咗,我個人好易相處,同香港人、印度人都相處到,所以其實讀咩學校都冇問題。 [Cantonese, trad.]
- From: 2016, 喬寶寶, (Q Bobo), 《香港製造》, page 32
- bat1 gwo3 ci2 zung1 daai6 gaa1 dou1 hai6 sai3 lou6, hou2 faai3 zau6 fen1 zo2, ngo5 go3 jan4 hou2 ji6 soeng1 cyu2, tung4 hoeng1 gong2 jan4, jan3 dou6 jan4 dou1 soeng1 cyu2 dou3-2, so2 ji5 kei4 sat6 duk6 me1 hok6 haau6 dou1 mou5 man6 tai4. [Jyutping]
- But since everyone is a kid, we quickly became close. I easily get along with others, no matter if it's with Hong Kongers or Indians, so it doesn't matter which school I go to.
不过始终大家都系细路,好快就friend咗,我个人好易相处,同香港人、印度人都相处到,所以其实读咩学校都冇问题。 [Cantonese, simp.]
Derived terms
[edit]- friend子 (fen1 zi2)
- friend底
- friend過夾band/friend过夹band (fen1 gwo3 gaap3 ben1)
- friend過打band/friend过打band
References
[edit]Middle English
[edit]Noun
[edit]friend
- Alternative form of frend
Old English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]frīend
- dative singular of frēond
- nominative and accusative plural of frēond
Spanish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]friend m (plural friends)
Yola
[edit]Noun
[edit]friend
- Alternative form of vriene
- 1867, “VERSES IN ANSWER TO THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 3, page 100:
- Mye thee friend ne're waant welcome, nor straayart comfoort.
- May thy friend ne'er want welcome, nor the stranger comfort.
References
[edit]- Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 100
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *preyH-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɛnd
- Rhymes:English/ɛnd/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with collocations
- English informal terms
- English colloquialisms
- en:Object-oriented programming
- en:Climbing
- English euphemisms
- Scottish English
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English endearing terms
- English terms of address
- en:People
- en:Friendship
- Cantonese terms borrowed from English
- Cantonese terms derived from English
- Chinese lemmas
- Cantonese lemmas
- Chinese nouns
- Cantonese nouns
- Chinese adjectives
- Cantonese adjectives
- Chinese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Chinese terms written in foreign scripts
- Cantonese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Cantonese Chinese
- Chinese nouns classified by 個/个
- Cantonese terms with usage examples
- Cantonese terms with quotations
- Chinese nouns classified by 啲
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Old English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old English non-lemma forms
- Old English noun forms
- Spanish terms borrowed from English
- Spanish terms derived from English
- Spanish 1-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/end
- Rhymes:Spanish/end/1 syllable
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish nouns
- Spanish countable nouns
- Spanish masculine nouns
- es:Climbing
- Yola lemmas
- Yola nouns
- Yola terms with quotations