What does "friend" mean?
A person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
Friend
/fɹɛnd/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
- Grammar: friend is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: ally, companion, supporter, acquaintance.
- Useful contrasts: adversaries, adversary, alienate.
- Usage evidence: This is my friend Rachel. We went to high school together.
How to use "friend"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "friend" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "friend" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "friend" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "friend" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "friend" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "ally" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "friend", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
""[…]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—[…]”"
- 2 A Quaker; a member of the Society of Friends. (See also Friends.)
- 3 a member of the Religious Society of Friends founded by George Fox (the Friends have never called themselves Quakers) wordnet
- 4 An associate who provides assistance; patron, mentor.
"When I was a child of seven years old, my friends, on a holiday, filled my little pocket with halfpence."
- 5 Brand name of a spring-loaded camming device, now used to refer to any such device, often uncapitalized, as friend.
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 a person with whom you are acquainted wordnet
- 7 A person with whom one is vaguely or indirectly acquainted.
"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."
- 8 an associate who provides cooperation or assistance wordnet
- 9 A person who backs or supports something.
"I’m not a friend of cheap wine."
- 10 a person you know well and regard with affection and trust wordnet
- 11 An object or idea that can be used for good. informal
"Fruit is your friend."
- 12 a person who backs a politician or a team etc. wordnet
- 13 Used as a form of address when warning someone. colloquial, ironic
"You’d better watch it, friend."
- 14 A function or class granted special access to the private and protected members of another class.
"But don't take the following sections as an endorsement of friends. Top C++ programmers avoid using friends unless absolutely necessary."
- 15 A spring-loaded camming device.
"Since they were introduced in the 1970s, friends have revolutionized climbing, making protection possible in previously impossible places […]"
- 16 A lover; a boyfriend or girlfriend. euphemistic
"Nor to the motion of a schoolboy's tongue ; Nor never come in visard to my friend"
- 17 A relative, a relation by blood or marriage. Scotland, obsolete
"Friends agree best at a distance."
- 18 Used to refer collectively to a group of associated individuals, especially those comprising a cast, company, or crew in-plural
"Meanwhile on The View, Whoopi Goldberg and friends continue to spout their takes on the hot topics of the day."
Verb
- 1 To act as a friend to, to befriend; to be friendly to, to help. obsolete, transitive
"Lo sluggish Knight the victors happie pray: / So fortune friends the bold [...]."
- 2 To add (a person) to a list of friends on a social networking site; to officially designate (someone) as a friend. transitive
"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."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname transferred from the common noun.
- 2 A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Terry Township, Finney County, Kansas.
- 3 A place in the United States:; A minor city in Saline County, Nebraska, named after Charles E. Friend.
- 4 A place in the United States:; A ghost town in Wasco County, Oregon, named after George J. Friend.
Example
"This is my friend Rachel. We went to high school together."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "friend"?
Common synonyms include: ally, companion, supporter, acquaintance, acquaintance, adherent.
How do you use "friend" in a sentence?
This is my friend Rachel. We went to high school together.
How do you pronounce "friend"?
Pronounced /fɹɛnd/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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. 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”), 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”).
Etymology 2
English surname, from the noun friend, or adaptations of it in other languages such as German Freund, Dutch Vriend, Slovene Prijatelj.