friend
Americannoun
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a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.
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a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter
friends of the Boston Symphony.
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a person who is on good terms with another; a person who is not hostile.
Who goes there? Friend or foe?
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a member of the same nation, party, etc.
- Synonyms:
- compatriot, confrere, associate, ally
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Friend, a member of the Society of Friends; a Quaker.
The religious practices of Friends are founded in direct communion with God.
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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)
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Rare. to befriend.
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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.
idioms
noun
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a person known well to another and regarded with liking, affection, and loyalty; an intimate
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an acquaintance or associate
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an ally in a fight or cause; supporter
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a fellow member of a party, society, etc
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a patron or supporter
a friend of the opera
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to be friendly (with)
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to become friendly (with)
verb
noun
noun
Usage
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."
Related Words
See acquaintance.
Other Word Forms
- friendless adjective
- friendlessness noun
- friendship noun
- nonfriend noun
Etymology
Origin of friend
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”
Explanation
A friend is your buddy, your pal, your amigo, your comrade. You know, someone you trust and like enough to hang out with on a regular basis. The noun friend comes to us from the Old English word freond. Back then you had to be careful to not confuse freond with feond, which meant “fiend or enemy.” These days it's pretty tough to get mixed up though. Friends are the people you can count on, the ones that make you laugh and throw you birthday parties. Enemies are generally the mean ones.
Vocabulary lists containing friend
Spelling Practice, Unit 2
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Spelling Practice, Unit 3
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
So it came as a shock last Friday when the civil servant got a frantic phone call from a friend.
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026
He was much more to our family than an entertainer he was our friend and we are deeply saddened.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 27, 2026
Police were raiding the daycare centre, his friend said, go pick up your children right now.
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026
Bill Hunt, a collector and curator of photography and long-time friend of Nones, described the debut as a “seeming burst of energy and clarity” from Nones.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026
It was making a low, friendly yip-and-yowl which sounded a bit like it’s all right, I’m a friend.
From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
