Etymology

friend

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Today it means: A person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection. Full definition →

Middle English frend ← Old English frēond ← Proto-West Germanic *friund
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friend · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*preyH-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*priHós
  3. Proto-Germanic*frijōną
  4. Proto-Germanic*frijōndz
  5. Proto-West Germanic*friund
  6. Old Englishfrēond
  7. Middle Englishfrend
  8. English todayfriend

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”), Czech přítel (“friend; supporter; lover”), Macedonian при́јател (príjatel, “friend, mate, pal”), Polish przyjaciel, przyjáciel (“friend; lover”), Russian прия́тель (prijátelʹ, “friend; buddy, mate, pal”), Serbo-Croatian при̏јатељ, prȉjatelj (“friend”), Slovak priateľ (“friend; supporter”), Slovene prijatelj (“friend; companion; chum”), Ukrainian при́ятель (prýjatelʹ, “friend; buddy, pal”), Avestan 𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 (friia, “good, pleasant”), Persian فری (fari, “beloved, dear; pleasing”), Sanskrit प्रिय (priya, “beloved; own, wonted”). More at free.

Friend · noun, proper noun2

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

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*preyH- all →

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Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.