friend

[frend]

noun

1. a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.

   Synonyms: confidant, crony, chum, comrade
   Antonyms: foe, enemy

2. a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter

   friends of the Boston Symphony.

   Synonyms: advocate, backer

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.

   Synonyms: compatriot, confrere, associate, ally
   Antonyms: foe, enemy

5. Friend, a member of the Society of Friends; a Quaker.

   The religious practices of Friends are founded in direct communion with God.

6. a person associated with another as a contact on a social media website.

   We've never met, but we're Facebook friends.

verb (used with object)

1. Rare.,  to befriend.

2. to add (a person) to one's list of contacts on a social media website.

   I just friended a couple of guys in my class.

friend

¹

/ frɛnd /

noun

1. a person known well to another and regarded with liking, affection, and loyalty; an intimate

2. an acquaintance or associate

3. an ally in a fight or cause; supporter

4. a fellow member of a party, society, etc

5. a patron or supporter

   a friend of the opera

6. to be friendly (with)

7. to become friendly (with)

verb

1. (tr) an archaic word for befriend

Friend

²

/ frɛnd /

noun

1. a member of the Religious Society of Friends; Quaker

Friend

³

/ frɛnd /

noun

1. mountaineering a device consisting of a shaft with double-headed spring-loaded cams that can be wedged in a crack to provide an anchor point

Other Word Forms

• friendless adjective
• friendlessness noun
• nonfriend noun
• friendship noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of friend¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English friend, frend, Old English frēond “friend, lover, relative” (cognate with Old Saxon friund, Old High German friunt ( German Freund ), Gothic frijōnds ), originally the present participle of frēogan, cognate with Gothic frijōn “to love”

Word History and Origins

Origin of friend¹

Old English frēond ; related to Old Saxon friund , Old Norse frǣndi , Gothic frijōnds , Old High German friunt

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. make friends with, to enter into friendly relations with; become a friend to.

More idioms and phrases containing friend

• fair-weather friend
• make friends

Synonym Study

See acquaintance.

Example Sentences

In the 2011 comedy “Horrible Bosses,” three friends gang up against their bosses—all different versions of horrible.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Some of the women brought along friends, a few came with their spouses and others traveled on their own.

Read more on Salon

"We are absolutely delighted to share our love and commitment to spending our future lives together, in front of our family and closest friends," Albanese said in a brief statement.

Read more on BBC

"It makes me feel really cross, because I hate people being scammed and the websites are the kind of thing you would share with a friend," Claire added.

Read more on BBC

"I was crying all the time, I didn't want to leave the house, I was avoiding friends," she said.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• acquaintance 
• ally 
• associate 
• buddy 
• classmate 
• colleague 
• companion 
• cousin 
• partner 
• roommate 

When To Use

Spelling tips for friend

The word friend is hard to spell for two reasons. First, it sounds like [ frend ], making it easy to miss the i. Second, even if you know there is an i, it can be difficult to remember the order of the i and the e.How to spell friend: To remember that friend has an i in it, think of the phrase "I see my friends on Friday." Both friend and Friday begin fri-. If you remember that friend has an i in it, but just can't remember where it goes, keep in mind the classic mnemonic device "I before E, except after C."