Etimology
From Middle English frend, freend, from Old English frēond (“friend”, literally “loving[-one], lover”), from Proto-West Germanic *friund, from Proto-Germanic *frijōndz (“lover, friend”), from Proto-Indo-European *preyH- (“to like, love”), equivalent to free + -nd. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Fjund, Früünd (“friend”), West Frisian freon, froen, freondinne (“friend”), Dutch vriend (“friend”), Low German Frund, Fründ (“friend, relative”), Luxembourgish Frënd (“friend”), German Freund (“friend”), Danish frænde (“kinsman”), Swedish frände (“kinsman, relative”), Icelandic frændi (“kinsman”), Welsh ffrind (“friend”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌾𐍉𐌽𐌳𐍃 (frijōnds, “friend”). More at free. Other cognates include Russian прия́тель (prijátelʹ, “friend”) and Sanskrit प्रिय (priyá-, “beloved”).
noun
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.
An associate who provides assistance.
A person with whom one is vaguely or indirectly acquainted.
A person who backs or supports something.
(informal) An object or idea that can be used for good.
(colloquial, ironic, used only in the vocative) Used as a form of address when warning someone.
(object-oriented programming) A function or class granted special access to the private and protected members of another class.
(climbing) A spring-loaded camming device.
(euphemistic) A lover; a boyfriend or girlfriend.
(Scotland, obsolete) A relative, a relation by blood or marriage.
(in the plural, usually preceded by "and") Used to refer collectively to a group of associated individuals, especially those comprising a cast, company, or crew
Examples
The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.
...if you consider any man a friend whom you do not trust as you trust yourself, you are mightily mistaken and you do not sufficiently understand what true friendship means.
...he who looks upon a true friend, looks, as it were, upon a sort of image of himself. Wherefore friends, though absent, are at hand; though in need, yet abound; though weak, are strong; and—harder saying still—though dead, are yet alive; so great is the esteem on the part of their friends, the tender recollection and the deep longing that still attends them.
...you are my devoted friend too. You do more and work harder and oh shit I'd get maudlin about how damned swell you are. My god I'd like to see you... You're a hell of a good guy.
Definition of a friend: One who walks in—when the rest of the world walks out.
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.
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 to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.
a friend of a friend
I added him as a friend on Facebook, but I hardly know him.
I’m not a friend of cheap wine.
Fruit is your friend.
You’d better watch it, friend.
But don't take the following sections as an endorsement of friends. Top C++ programmers avoid using friends unless absolutely necessary.
In that case, the function needn't be a friend.
To make a function be a friend to a class, the reserved word friend precedes the function prototype […]
Since they were introduced in the 1970s, friends have revolutionized climbing, making protection possible in previously impossible places […]
Nor to the motion of a schoolboy's tongue ; Nor never come in visard to my friend
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 […]
I met your friend. She's very nice, what can I say?
Friends agree best at a distance.
Make friends of framet folk.
He was not a drop's blood to me, though him and my wife were far-out friends.
Synonyms: and company, et al.
Meanwhile on The View, Whoopi Goldberg and friends continue to issue forced apologies for their assumptive comments regarding non-profit organisation Turning Point USA...
Related words
synonyms
(person whose company one enjoys): See Thesaurus:friend
(boyfriend or girlfriend): See Thesaurus:lover
(person with whom you are acquainted): acquaintance, contact
(person who provides assistance): ally
(person who backs something): admirer, booster, champion, protagonist, supporter
(form of address used in warning someone): buster, mate (British), pal, buddy, sonny
antonyms
(antonym(s) of "person whose company one enjoys"): See Thesaurus:enemy
(antonym(s) of "person with whom you are acquainted"): stranger
(antonym(s) of "person who provides assistance"): enemy, foe
verb
friend (third-person singular simple present friends, present participle friending, simple past and past participle friended)
(transitive, obsolete) To act as a friend to, to befriend; to be friendly to, to help.
(transitive) To add (a person) to a list of friends on a social networking site; to officially designate (someone) as a friend.
Examples
Lo sluggish Knight the victors happie pray: / So fortune friends the bold [...].
’Tis true, the stuff I bring for saleIs not so brisk a brew as ale:Out of a stem that scored the handI 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 headWhen your soul is in my soul’s stead;And I will friend you, if I may,In the dark and cloudy day.
The difference between responses to the statement, "If someone friends me, I will friend them," and "If I friend someone, I expect them to friend me back," is telling.
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.
Related words
synonyms
(to act as the friend of): befriend
antonyms
(antonym(s) of "social networking"): defriend, unfriend