friend

/fɹɛnd/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

dialectal/frɪnd/

friend noun: a person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.

Noun (1)

friend (plural friends)

A person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
- "[…]if you have any wish to speak openly to me as a friend, or to ask my opinion of any thing that you may have in contemplation—as a friend, indeed, you may command me.—I will hear whatever you like. I will tell you exactly what I think." "As a friend!"—repeated Mr. Knightley.—"Emma, that I fear...1816, Jane Austen, Emma
- The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Friendship”, in Essays, volume I
An associate who provides assistance; patron, mentor.
- When I was a child of seven years old, my friends, on a holiday, filled my little pocket with halfpence.1779, Benjamin Franklin, The Whistle (letter)
- The vicious propensities—the want of principle which he was careful to guard from the knowledge of his best friend, could not escape the observation of a young man of nearly the same age with himself, and who had opportunities of seeing him in unguarded moments, which Mr. Darcy could not have.1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
A person with whom one is vaguely or indirectly acquainted.
- The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",[…]and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is...2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27
- a friend of a friend
Synonyms:

acquaintance, contact
A person who backs or supports something.
- I’m not a friend of cheap wine.
Synonyms:

admirer, booster, champion, protagonist, supporter
(informal) An object or idea that can be used for good.
- Fruit is your friend.
(colloquial, ironic) Used as a form of address when warning someone.
- You’d better watch it, friend.
Synonyms:

buster, mate, pal, buddy, sonny
(object-oriented programming) A function or class granted special access to the private and protected members of another class.
- But don't take the following sections as an endorsement of friends. Top C++ programmers avoid using friends unless absolutely necessary.1991, Tom Swan, Learning C++
- In that case, the function needn't (and shouldn't) be a friend.2001, Stephen Prata, C++ primer plus
A spring-loaded camming device.
- Since they were introduced in the 1970s, friends have revolutionized climbing, making protection possible in previously impossible places […]1995, Rock Climbing Basics
(euphemistic) A lover; a boyfriend or girlfriend.
- Nor to the motion of a schoolboy's tongue ; Nor never come in visard to my friendc. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Time has been, when a gentleman wanted a friend, I could supply him with choice in an hour; but the market is spoiled, and a body might as soon produce a hare or a partridge […]1813, Samuel Foote, The Commissary, Etc., page 17
Synonyms:

lover
(Scotland, obsolete) A relative, a relation by blood or marriage.
- Friends agree best at a distance.
- Make friends of framet folk.
(in plural, usually preceded by "and") Used to refer collectively to a group of associated individuals, especially those comprising a cast, company, or crew
- Meanwhile on The View, Whoopi Goldberg and friends continue to spout their takes on the hot topics of the day.
- Russia and friends continued to criticize the work of the JIM, focusing in particular on the methodology employed and the decision of the experts not to go to certain on-site visits for security reasons[…]2020, Beth Van Schaack, Imagining Justice for Syria, →ISBN, page 98
Synonyms:

company, et al.

Verb

friend (third-person singular simple present friends, present participle friending, simple past and past participle friended)

(obsolete, transitive) To act as a friend to, to befriend; to be friendly to, to help.
- Lo sluggish Knight the victors happie pray: / So fortune friends the bold [...].1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.ii
- ’Tis true, the stuff I bring for sale
  Is not so brisk a brew as ale:
  Out of a stem that scored the hand
  I wrung it in a weary land.
  But take it: if the smack is sour,
  The better for the embittered hour;
  It should do good to heart and head
  When your soul is in my soul’s stead;
  And I will friend you...1896, Alfred Edward Housman, A Shropshire Lad, section LXII
(transitive) To add (a person) to a list of friends on a social networking site; to officially designate (someone) as a friend.
- One of the most used features of MySpace is the practice that is nicknamed "friending." If you "friend" someone, then that person is added to your MySpace friends list, and you are added to their friends list.2006, Kevin Farnham, Dale G. Farnham, Myspace Safety: 51 Tips for Teens And Parents, How-To Primers, →ISBN, page 69
- The two distributions which exhibited this property were in response to the statements, “I am careful about who I friend,” and, “If someone friends me, I will friend them.” (Figure 3).2007, David Fono, Kate Raynes-Goldie, “Hyperfriendship and Beyond: Friends and Social Norms on LiveJournal”, in Mia Consalvo, Caroline Haythornthwaite, editors, Internet Research Annual: Selected...
Antonyms:

defriend, unfriend

Noun (2) capitalized: Friend

Friend (plural Friends)

A Quaker; a member of the Society of Friends. (See also Friends.)
(rock-climbing) Brand name of a spring-loaded camming device, now used to refer to any such device, often uncapitalized, as friend.

Proper noun capitalized: Friend

Friend

A surname transferred from the common noun.
An unincorporated community in Terry Township, Finney County, Kansas.
A minor city in Saline County, Nebraska, named after Charles E. Friend.
A ghost town in Wasco County, Oregon, named after George J. Friend.

friend meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

friend in Hindi

person whose company one enjoys: दोस्त dost, मित्र mitra, साथी sāthī, सखा sakhā, यार yār, मीत mīt
person with whom you are acquainted: परिचित paricit
boyfriend or girlfriend: प्रेमी premī, प्रेमिका premikā

friend in Tamil

person whose company one enjoys: நண்பன் naṇpaṉ, நண்பி naṇpi, தோழன் tōḻaṉ, தோழி tōḻi
boyfriend or girlfriend: நண்பன் naṇpaṉ, நண்பி naṇpi, தோழன் tōḻaṉ, தோழி tōḻi

friend in Marathi

person whose company one enjoys: बंधु bandhu, मित्र mitra

friend in Urdu

person whose company one enjoys: دوسْت dost, مِتَّر mittar, یار yār, رَفِیق rafīq, مِیت mīt, حَبِیب habīb

More languagesFewer languages

friend in Bengali: বন্ধু bondhu, বান্ধবী bandhobi, দোস্ত dōsto
friend in Telugu: సహచరుడు sahacaruḍu, మిత్రుడు mitruḍu, స్నేహితుడు snēhituḍu, స్నేహితురాలు snēhiturālu
friend in Malayalam: കൂട്ടുകാരൻ kūṭṭukāraṉ, കൂട്ടുകാരി kūṭṭukāri, സുഹൃത്ത് suhr̥ttŭ, തോഴൻ tōḻaṉ
friend in Kannada: ಮಿತ್ರ mitra, ಸ್ನೇಹಿತ snēhita, ಗೆಳೆಯ geḷeya
friend in Punjabi: ਮਿੱਤਰ mittar, ਬੇਲੀ belī, ਯਾਰ yār, بیلی belī
friend in Gujarati: દોસ્ત dost, મિત્ર mitra
friend in Odia: ମିତ mita, ସଖା sakhā, ସାଙ୍ଗ sāṅga
friend in Sanskrit: सखि sakhi, सुहृद suhṛda, मित्र mitra
friend in Sinhala: මිතුරා miturā
friend in Assamese: বন্ধু bondhu, বান্ধৱী bandhowi, লগৰ logor, লগৰীয়া logoria
friend in Nepali: मित्र mitra, साथी sāthī
friend in Pashto: دوست dost
friend in Tagalog: kaibigan, syota, bata, kasintahan
friend in Arabic: صَدِيق ṣadīq, صَدِيقَة ṣadīqa, صَاحِب ṣāḥib, صَاحِبَة ṣāḥiba
friend in Malay: kawan, handai, rakan, taulan
friend in Indonesian: teman, sahabat, kawan, sobat
friend in Persian: دوست dôst, یاریگر yârigar, دوسْت dōst, رَفِیق rafīq
friend in Thai: เพื่อน pʉ̂ʉan, สหาย sà-hǎai, มิตร mít, เกลอ gləə
friend in Vietnamese: người bạn, bạn
friend in Myanmar: သူငယ်ချင်း su-ngaihkyang:, မိတ်ဆွေ mithcwe, သင်္ဂဟ sangga.ha., မိတ် mit
Sindhi: سکو sakō, يار yāru, حبيب ḥabību, دوست dōstu
Dhivehi: ރަތތެހި rattehi

Examples of friend in a sentence

John and I have been friends ever since we were roommates at college.
Trust is important between friends.
I used to find it hard to make friends when I was shy.
We became friends in the war and remain friends to this day.
We were friends with some girls from the other school and stayed friends with them.
The Automobile Association is every motorist's friend. The police is every law-abiding citizen's friend.

All 40 example sentences with friend

Synonyms of friend

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

10 more antonymsFewer antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of friend

Forms of friend

Noun
plural	friends
alternative pronunciation-spelling	frind
alternative misspelling	freind
plural	Friends
Verb
third-person singular present	friends
present participle	friending
past participle	friended
past	friended

Plural of friend: friends

Origin of friend

From Middle English freend, frend, frende, freynde, friend, frind, frond, frund, vrend, vryend, from Old English frēond, frīond (“friend”, literally “loving [one], lover”), from Proto-West Germanic *friund, from Proto-Germanic *frijōndz (“friend, loved one”), from Proto-Indo-European *preyH- (“to please; to love”), roughly equivalent to free + -nd. See also Friday. Cognates Cognate with Scots freend (“friend”), Yola friend, vriene (“friend”), North Frisian frinj, frün (“friend”), Saterland Frisian Fjund, Früünd (“friend”), West Frisian freon, freondinne (“friend”), Cimbrian bròint, vròint (“friend”), Dutch vriend (“friend”), German Freund (“friend”), German Low German Fründ (“friend, relative”), Limburgish vröndj (“friend”), Luxembourgish Frënd (“friend”), Vilamovian fraeind, frajnd (“friend”), Yiddish פֿרײַנד (fraynd, “friend”), Danish frænde (“kinsman”), Faroese and Icelandic frændi (“kinsman”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk frende (“relative”), Swedish frände (“kinsman, relative”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌾𐍉𐌽𐌳𐍃 (frijōnds, “friend”); also Welsh rhydd (“free”), Latin proprius (“own, proper”), Belarusian пры́яцель (prýjacjelʹ, “friend”), Bulgarian прия́тел (prijátel, “male friend”)...

English surname, from the noun friend, or adaptations of it in other languages such as German Freund, Dutch Vriend, Slovene Prijatelj.

Words formed from friend

Phrases with friend

49 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with friend

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about friend

What does friend mean?: Friend means a person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
What is friend in Hindi?: Friend in Hindi is दोस्त (dost), मित्र (mitra), साथी (sāthī). See Friend meaning in Hindi.
How do you use friend in a sentence?: John and I have been friends ever since we were roommates at college.
What part of speech is friend?: Friend can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce friend?: Friend is pronounced /fɹɛnd/ (UK).
What is the plural of friend?: The plural of friend is friends.

Words near friend in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: friend (page history and authors); Friend (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-friend.ogg, En-us-friend.ogg.

Cite this entry: “friend.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/friend. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.