Etymology

girlfriend

girl·friend
G2I1R1L1F4R1I1E1N1D2

Today it means: A female partner in an unmarried romantic relationship. Full definition →

English friend ← Middle English frend ← Old English frēond
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic*gaurā
  2. Proto-West Germanic*gurilā
  3. Old English*gyrele?
  4. Middle Englishgirle
  5. Englishgirl
  6. Proto-Indo-European*preyH-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*priHós
  8. Proto-Germanic*frijōną
  9. Proto-Germanic*frijōndz
  10. Proto-West Germanic*friund
  11. Old Englishfrēond
  12. Middle Englishfrend
  13. Englishfriend
  14. English todaygirlfriend

From girl + friend.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.