friendly

Etymology

It is formed from English friend + -ly,^[2][3][4] and goes back through Middle English frendly to Old English frēondlīc (“friend-like, friendly”), made of the Old English noun and -lic.^[5][6][4] The OED sets beside it, as cognates or parallel formations, Old Frisian friundlīk, Middle Dutch vriendelīk, now vriendelijk, Old Saxon friundlīk and Old High German friuntlīh, now freundlich,^[7] and Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Germanic *frijōndlīkaz.^[1] The noun friend is from Old English frēond, from Proto-Germanic *frijōjands (“lover, friend”), from Proto-Indo-European *priy-ont- (“loving”), the present participle of *pri- (“to love”);^[2] the OED likewise explains the Germanic forms as present participles, used as nouns, of the base of free.^[7] The adverb has the same Middle English form and goes back to frēondlīce,^[5][8][4] and the noun is the adjective put to a new use.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Friendly, kindly disposed, in the early Old English translation of Bede:^[7] Þurh ða freóndlícan englas, rendering the Latin per amicos angelos.^[6] Dictionary.com dates the Old English word to before 900.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Old English used the word for what befits a friend, for dealings free of conflict and for being favourably disposed to someone.^[7][6] The modern core sense, of a person who behaves like a friend and is kind and pleasant, is first quoted about 1390,^[7][8] and Chaucer has the adjective 19 times.^[10] From before 1398 it could describe a thing that helps or favours; from 1553 it also described an event or place that feels warm and welcoming.^[7] A second line of use grew from "not hostile": of people and nations from before 1522,^[7] of a lawsuit brought only to settle a point of law from 1761, of a game played for enjoyment from 1780, of an agreed takeover from 1900, and of one's own or allied troops from 1903.^[7] Johnson (1755) gave "kind; favourable; benevolent" and also "disposed to union", of things that go together,^[11] a sense the OED records from before 1641.^[7] Since Friends came to mean Quakers, the word has also described them, from 1671.^[7] The noun appears in 1836 for a person friendly to settlers or invaders,^[5] and its usual British sense is now a match that counts for nothing in a league or competition.^[5][12] In compounds it now means not harmful to something, or easy for someone to use.^[13][14] The adverb has become rare, Etymonline suggests because the worn-down adverb could no longer be told from the adjective;^[2] the OED says friendlily has largely replaced it.^[7]

Timeline

• before 900 – Old English, befitting a friend; favourably disposed.^[9][7]
• c. 1390 – of a person, behaving as a friend, kind and pleasant.^[7][8]
• before 1398 – of a thing, favourable, helpful.^[7]
• before 1522 – of a person or nation, not hostile, on good terms.^[7]
• 1553 – of an event or place, warm, welcoming.^[7]
• 1628 – giving shelter or protection, conveniently placed.^[7]
• 1671 – of or sympathetic to the Quakers.^[7]
• 1761 – of a legal action, brought only to clarify the law.^[7]
• 1780 – of a game, played for enjoyment and not in serious competition.^[7]
• 1836 – noun, a person friendly to settlers or invaders.^[5]
• 1900 – of a takeover, approved by the company acquired.^[7]
• 1903 – of troops, belonging to or allied with one's own side.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Kind and pleasant towards others; behaving as a friend does: a friendly nod from the driver.^[12][5][7]
2. Not hostile; on good terms: friendly neighbouring states.^[12][7]
3. Favourably disposed; ready to help or support, often with to: a council friendly to new businesses.^[5][7][12]
4. Favourable or helpful, of a thing or influence: a friendly tide.^[12][7][13]
5. Of troops or equipment, belonging to or allied with one's own side.^[12][13][7]
6. Of a game, played for enjoyment or practice and not as part of a competition.^[7][15]
7. (law) Of an action, brought only to clarify the law and not to settle a real dispute.^[7]
8. Of a takeover, agreed to by the company being acquired.^[7]
9. In combination, not harmful to something, or easy to use by someone: -friendly.^[13][14]
10. Relating to the Society of Friends, or Quakers; usually with a capital.^[7][15]

Noun

1. (chiefly British) A match played for its own sake, outside any league or championship.^[5][12][13]
2. A person who is friendly, especially a local who is friendly to settlers or invaders.^[5]

Adverb

1. (rare) In a friendly way; amicably.^[5][7][2]

Word family

• friendlily
• friendliness
• friendly fire
• friendly society

Related words

• friend
• free
• friendship
• befriend
• user-friendly

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
9. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ a b c d e Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
15. ^ a b The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers