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Friend

//fɹɛnd// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

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.

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."

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

Etymology 3

English surname, from the noun friend, or adaptations of it in other languages such as German Freund, Dutch Vriend, Slovene Prijatelj.

Etymology 4

English surname, from the noun friend, or adaptations of it in other languages such as German Freund, Dutch Vriend, Slovene Prijatelj.

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