next friend

noun

A person who represents another person who is under disability or otherwise unable to maintain a suit on their own behalf, and who does not have a legal guardian.

Similar
litigation friendprochein ami
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Meanings

nounnext friend (plural next friends)

plural next friends

  1. lawA person who represents another person who is under disability or otherwise unable to maintain a suit on their own behalf, and who does not have a legal guardian.

    Then leave-taking was not long about; and Miss Twinkleton, in saluting each young lady’s cheek, confided to her an exceedingly neat letter, addressed to her next friend at law, “with Miss Twinkleton’s best compliments” in the corner.

    1870 April–September, Charles Dickens, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1870, →OCLC

    Synonyms: litigation friend, prochein ami

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA person who represents another person who is under disability or otherwise unable to maintain a suit on their own behalf, and who does not have a legal guardian.

Similar
litigation friendprochein ami
Also see
litigation friend
Cite this entry
APA

next friend. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/next%20friend

MLA

“next friend.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/next%20friend. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “next friend,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/next%20friend.

Source: next friend on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.