Etymologically
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friend

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /frend/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English frend, inherited from Old English frēond,[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *frijōjands (“lover, friend”),[2] the present participle of a verb meaning “to love”, seen in Old English frēon,[3][4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *prī- (“to love”).[2][4] Its relatives include Dutch vriend, German Freund and Old Norse frændi (“kinsman, friend”),[2][3][6] and in English free.[7][5][6] It was formed like fiend, also a present participle,[3][5] though fiend is not related to it.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person attached to another by affection: Old English frēond, about 725, in Beowulf,[3][2] where the king's hall is described as full of friends.[8]

Semantic evolution

The American Heritage Dictionary points out that a friend is literally a lover: Old English frēond was simply the present participle of frēon, “to love”, just as Latin amīcus goes with amō and Greek philos with phileō.[4] The same Germanic root gave a word for “peace”, found in names such as Frederick, and the name of the goddess Frigg, preserved in Friday.[4] In Old English frēond and fēond (“enemy”) were often paired in alliteration.[2] The long vowel of Middle English was later shortened under the influence of words such as friendship,[3] which goes back to Old English frēondscipe.[3] The proverb a friend in need is a friend indeed can be traced back to the 11th century.[8] A member of the Society of Friends, a Quaker, has been called a Friend since 1656[9] or the 1670s.[2] The verb has been used since about 1200, “to be friends”, though befriend is the usual word,[2][6] and in the social-media sense since 2005.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English frēond and frēondscipe (Beowulf).[3]
  • 11th century – a friend in need is a friend indeed.[8]
  • c. 1200 – verb, to be friends.[2]
  • 1656 – a Quaker.[9]
  • 2005 – verb, to add as a friend online.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person one knows, likes and trusts.
  2. An acquaintance.
  3. An ally in a struggle or cause; a comrade.
  4. A supporter or patron of a group, cause or movement.
  5. (capitalized) A member of the Society of Friends; a Quaker.

Verb

  1. (archaic) To befriend.
  2. To add someone as a contact on a social networking site.

Word family

  • friendless
  • friendlessness

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)