The story
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁pi
- Proto-Germanic*bi
- Proto-Germanic*bi-
- Proto-West Germanic*bi-
- Old Englishbe-
- Middle Englishbi-
- Englishbe-
- Proto-Indo-European*preyH-
- Proto-Indo-European*priHós
- Proto-Germanic*frijōną
- Proto-Germanic*frijōndz
- Proto-West Germanic*friund
- Old Englishfrēond
- Middle Englishfrend
- Englishfriend
- English todaybefriend
From be- (intensifying prefix) + friend (verb). cognates * Dutch bevrienden (“to befriend”) * German befreunden (“to befriend”) * German Low German befründen (“to befriend”) * Saterland Frisian befrüündje (“to befriend”) * West Frisian befreone (“befriended”)
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.