friend

UK/fɹɛnd/US/fɹɛnd/

nounA1One of the most common words in English · #112 of 15,258leans spoken

Other forms: friends

A friend is a person you like, trust, and spend time with. An old friend.

Time spent together is what makes one, which is why they are hard to make after school. A friend is the relationship with no ceremony, no contract and no obligation, which is why it survives.

Definitions of friend

1nounfriendA person you like, trust, and spend time with.A1
“A friend of thirty years turned up without being asked.”

friend is a person.

Where it comes from

Old English frēond was the present participle of a verb meaning to love. A friend is, literally, one who is loving.

Middle English
frend
English, today
friend

Built from

frīond · Old English — friend (literally “loving [one], lover”)

From Middle English frend. 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. 2

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Family & People

Practise this word

friend in the wild

Identification, friend or foe (IFF) is a combat identification system designed for command and control.
Identification friend or foe
The friend zone has a strong presence on the Internet; for example, on Facebook, dating sites, and other social media platforms.
Friend zone
McKenzie friends often assist in family law matters, including divorce proceedings, child arrangements, and financial remedy hearings.
McKenzie friend
The right to a McKenzie friend was established in the 1970 case of McKenzie v McKenzie.
McKenzie friend
In the late 1880s Hinde was invited to San Diego by his close friend E.
Charles T. Hinde

1 / 5

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

Related words

the frīond family

friend

friend — used about once every 8 pages · #112 · point at the bar for the others

← Vocabulary

friend

UK/fɹɛnd/US/fɹɛnd/

nounA1One of the most common words in English · #112 of 15,258leans spoken

Other forms: friends

A friend is a person you like, trust, and spend time with. An old friend.

Time spent together is what makes one, which is why they are hard to make after school. A friend is the relationship with no ceremony, no contract and no obligation, which is why it survives.

Definitions of friend

1nounfriendA person you like, trust, and spend time with.A1
“A friend of thirty years turned up without being asked.”

friend is a person.

Where it comes from

Old English frēond was the present participle of a verb meaning to love. A friend is, literally, one who is loving.

Middle English
frend
English, today
friend

Built from

frīond · Old English — friend (literally “loving [one], lover”)

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Family & People

Practise this word

friend in the wild

Identification, friend or foe (IFF) is a combat identification system designed for command and control.
Identification friend or foe
The friend zone has a strong presence on the Internet; for example, on Facebook, dating sites, and other social media platforms.
Friend zone
McKenzie friends often assist in family law matters, including divorce proceedings, child arrangements, and financial remedy hearings.
McKenzie friend
The right to a McKenzie friend was established in the 1970 case of McKenzie v McKenzie.
McKenzie friend
In the late 1880s Hinde was invited to San Diego by his close friend E.
Charles T. Hinde

1 / 5

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

Related words

the frīond family

friend

friend — used about once every 8 pages · #112 · point at the bar for the others