friendship

/ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/

friendship noun: the condition of being friends.

Noun

friendship (countable and uncountable, plural friendships)

(uncountable) The condition of being friends.
- But (as the Poet ſaith) Malè ſarta gratia, nequicquam coit, & reſcinditur: Friendſhip, that is but euill peeced, will not ioine cloſe, but falleth aſunder againe:1570, William Lambard, quoting Horace, A Perambulation of Kent, published 1596, page 341
- We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over.1816 [1777], James Boswell, quoting Samuel Johnson, The life of Samuel Johnson […] , volume 3, T. Cadell and W. Davies, page 181
Synonyms:

chumship
(countable) A friendly relationship, or a relationship as friends.
- “They’re cuddling by the fire, they’re going on trips together, they’re introducing their friends to their family, but they’re very clear that those are friendships,” Stinson said. “It really makes me think about the definitions that we have about friendship and romance, and how those things...2021 July 20, Sarah Molano, “Most romantic relationships start as friendships, study finds”, in CNN
- In good times and bad, in sickness and health, the benefits of friendships between women are physically and psychologically undeniable.2024 August 4, Terry Ward, “Fragile and complex, female friendships hinge on the three S’s, a new book says”, in CNN
Synonyms:

entente cordiale
(uncountable) Good will.

Proper noun capitalized: Friendship

Friendship

A town in Hot Spring County, Arkansas.
An unincorporated community in Brown Township, Ripley County, Indiana.
An unincorporated community in Caldwell County, Kentucky.
A town in Knox County, Maine.
A census-designated place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
An unincorporated community in Worcester County, Maryland.
A township in Emmet County, Michigan.
A township in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota.
An unincorporated community in Upper Pittsgrove Township, Salem County, New Jersey.
A town and census-designated place therein, in Allegany County, New York.
An unincorporated community in Cherokee County, North Carolina.
An unincorporated community in Wake County, North Carolina.

Show 10 more meaningsShow fewer meanings

A census-designated place in Nile Township, Scioto County, Ohio.
A small town in Jackson County, Oklahoma.
A neighbourhood in east Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
An unincorporated community in Marion County, South Carolina.
A minor city in Crockett County, Tennessee.
A town in Trinity County, Texas.
An unincorporated community in Washington County, Virginia.
A town in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin.
A village, the county seat of Adams County, Wisconsin.
A town in Coronie District, Suriname.

friendship meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

friendship in Hindi

(uncountable) condition of being friends: मित्रता mitratā, मैत्री maitrī, दोस्ती dostī
(countable) friendly relationship: मित्रता mitratā, मैत्री maitrī

friendship in Tamil

(uncountable) condition of being friends: நட்பு naṭpu

friendship in Marathi

(uncountable) condition of being friends: मैत्री maitrī
(countable) friendly relationship: मैत्री maitrī

friendship in Urdu

(uncountable) condition of being friends: دوسْتی dostī, آشْنائی āśnāī

More languagesFewer languages

friendship in Bengali: বন্ধুত্ব bondhutto
friendship in Telugu: చెలిమి celimi, స్నేహము snēhamu
friendship in Malayalam: സൗഹൃദം sauhr̥daṁ, ചങ്ങാത്തം caṅṅāttaṁ
friendship in Kannada: ಗೆಳೆತನ geḷetana
friendship in Punjabi: ਦੋਸਤੀ dostī, ਯਾਰੀ yārī, ਮਿੱਤਰਤਾ mittartā, ਆਸ਼ਨਾਈ āśanāī
friendship in Gujarati: સંબંધ sambandh
friendship in Odia: ସମ୍ବନ୍ଧ sambandha, ପ୍ରେମ prema
friendship in Sanskrit: मित्रता mitratā
friendship in Assamese: নেহা neha, মৰম morom
friendship in Nepali: मित्रता mitratā, मितेरि miteri, दोस्ती dostī
friendship in Pashto: دوستي dostí, رفيقي rafiqí
friendship in Tagalog: pagkakaibigan
friendship in Arabic: صَدَاقَة ṣadāqa
friendship in Malay: persahabatan
friendship in Indonesian: persahabatan
friendship in Thai: มิตรภาพ mít-dtrà-pâap
friendship in Vietnamese: tình bạn
friendship in Myanmar: ခင်မင်မှု hkangmanghmu.

Examples of friendship in a sentence

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create).1960, C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves, HarperCollins, published 2010, →ISBN, →OCLC:
“They’re cuddling by the fire, they’re going on trips together, they’re introducing their friends to their family, but they’re very clear that those are friendships,” Stinson said.2021 July 20, Sarah Molano, “Most romantic relationships start as friendships, study finds”, in CNN:
“It really makes me think about the definitions that we have about friendship and romance, and how those things differ, and I just like how messy it all is.”2021 July 20, Sarah Molano, “Most romantic relationships start as friendships, study finds”, in CNN:

All 40 example sentences with friendship

Synonyms of friendship

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of friendship

Forms of friendship

plural	friendships

Plural of friendship: friendships

Origin of friendship

From Middle English frendshipe, from Old English frēondsċiepe, from Proto-West Germanic *friundskapi. Equivalent to friend + -ship.

Words formed from friendship

Phrases with friendship

Questions about friendship

What does friendship mean?: Friendship means the condition of being friends.
What is friendship in Hindi?: Friendship in Hindi is मित्रता (mitratā), मैत्री (maitrī), दोस्ती (dostī). See Friendship meaning in Hindi.
How do you use friendship in a sentence?: Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create).
What part of speech is friendship?: Friendship can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce friendship?: Friendship is pronounced /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/.
What is the plural of friendship?: The plural of friendship is friendships.

Words near friendship in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: friendship (page history and authors); Friendship (page history and authors); پیار (Punjabi) (page history and authors); સંબંધ (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ପ୍ରେମ (Odia) (page history and authors); নেহা (Assamese) (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-us-friendship.ogg.

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