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friend - 7 dictionary results
friend
[frend] 
–noun
| 1. | a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard. |
| 2. | a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter: friends of the Boston Symphony. |
| 3. | a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile: Who goes there? Friend or foe? |
| 4. | a member of the same nation, party, etc. |
| 5. | (initial capital letter ) a member of the Religious Society of Friends; a Quaker. |
–verb (used with object)
—Idiom| 6. | Rare. to befriend. |
| 7. | make friends with, to enter into friendly relations with; become a friend to. |
Origin:
bef. 900; ME friend, frend, OE frēond friend, lover, relative (c. OS friund, OHG friunt (G Freund), Goth frijōnds), orig. prp. of frēogan, c. Goth frijōn to love
bef. 900; ME friend, frend, OE frēond friend, lover, relative (c. OS friund, OHG friunt (G Freund), Goth frijōnds), orig. prp. of frēogan, c. Goth frijōn to love
Related forms:
friendless, adjective
friend⋅less⋅ness, noun
Synonyms:
1. comrade, chum, crony, confidant. See acquaintance. 2. backer, advocate. 4. ally, associate, confrere, compatriot.
1. comrade, chum, crony, confidant. See acquaintance. 2. backer, advocate. 4. ally, associate, confrere, compatriot.
Antonyms:
1, 4. enemy, foe.
1, 4. enemy, foe.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To friend
| friend (frěnd) n.
[Middle English, from Old English frēond; see prī- in Indo-European roots.] friend'less adj., friend'less·ness n. Word History: A friend is a lover, literally. The relationship between Latin amīcus "friend" and amō "I love" is clear, as is the relationship between Greek philos "friend" and phileō "I love." In English, though, we have to go back a millennium before we see the verb related to friend. At that time, frēond, the Old English word for "friend," was simply the present participle of the verb frēon, "to love." The Germanic root behind this verb is *frī-, which meant "to like, love, be friendly to." Closely linked to these concepts is that of "peace," and in fact Germanic made a noun from this root, *frithu-, meaning exactly that. Ultimately descended from this noun are the personal names Frederick, "peaceful ruler," and Siegfried, "victory peace." The root also shows up in the name of the Germanic deity Frigg, the goddess of love, who lives on today in the word Friday, "day of Frigg," from an ancient translation of Latin Veneris diēs, "day of Venus." |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Friend
Friend\ (fr[e^]nd), n. [OR. frend, freond, AS. fre['o]nd, prop. p. pr. of fre['o]n, fre['o]gan, to love; akin to D. vriend friend, OS. friund friend, friohan to love, OHG. friunt friend, G. freund, Icel. fr[ae]ndi kinsman, Sw. fr["a]nde. Goth. frij[=o]nds friend, frij[=o]n to love. [root]83. See Free, and cf. Fiend.]1. One who entertains for another such sentiments of esteem, respect, and affection that he seeks his society aud welfare; a wellwisher; an intimate associate; sometimes, an attendant. Want gives to know the flatterer from the friend. --Dryden. A friend that sticketh closer than a brother. --Prov. xviii. 24. 2. One not inimical or hostile; one not a foe or enemy; also, one of the same nation, party, kin, etc., whose friendly feelings may be assumed. The word is some times used as a term of friendly address. Friend, how camest thou in hither? --Matt. xxii. 12. 3. One who looks propitiously on a cause, an institution, a project, and the like; a favorer; a promoter; as, a friend to commerce, to poetry, to an institution. 4. One of a religious sect characterized by disuse of outward rites and an ordained ministry, by simplicity of dress and speech, and esp. by opposition to war and a desire to live at peace with all men. They are popularly called Quakers. America was first visited by Friends in 1656. --T. Chase. 5. A paramour of either sex. [Obs.] --Shak. A friend at court or in court, one disposed to act as a friend in a place of special opportunity or influence. To be friends with, to have friendly relations with. "He's . . . friends with C[ae]sar." --Shak. To make friends with, to become reconciled to or on friendly terms with. "Having now made friends with the Athenians." --Jowett (Thucyd.).
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : friend
Spanish:
amigo,
German:
der, *die Freund, *-in,
Japanese:
友人
friend
O.E. freond, prp. of freogan "to love, to favor," from P.Gmc. *frijojanan "to love" (cf. O.N. frændi, O.Fris. friund, M.H.G. friunt, Ger. Freund, Goth. frijonds "friend," all alike from prp. forms). Related to O.E. freo "free." Meaning "A Quaker" (a member of the Society of Friends) is from 1679. Feond ("fiend," originally "enemy") and freond, often paired in O.E., both are masculine agent nouns derived from prp. of verbs, but are not directly related to one another.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Friend
Relationship between classes in the language C++.
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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friend
In addition to the idiom beginning with friend, also see fair-weather friend; make friends.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
