What does friend mean?

Definitions for friend
frɛndfriend

Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word friend.

Princeton's WordNet(3.55 / 20 votes)Rate this definition:

friendnoun
a person you know well and regard with affection and trust
"he was my best friend at the university"
ally, friendnoun
an associate who provides cooperation or assistance
"he's a good ally in fight"
acquaintance, friendnoun
a person with whom you are acquainted
"I have trouble remembering the names of all my acquaintances"; "we are friends of the family"
supporter, protagonist, champion, admirer, booster, friendnoun
a person who backs a politician or a team etc.
"all their supporters came out for the game"; "they are friends of the library"
Friend, Quakernoun
a member of the Religious Society of Friends founded by George Fox (the Friends have never called themselves Quakers)

Wiktionary(3.77 / 13 votes)Rate this definition:

friendnoun
A person other than a family member, spouse or lover whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
Etymology: From frend, freond, from freond, from frijōndz, from prēy-. Cognate with freon, froen, freondinne, vriend, frund, fründ, Freund, frænde, frände, frændi, 034603420339033E0349033D03330343. More at free.
friendnoun
A boyfriend or girlfriend.
See
Etymology: From frend, freond, from freond, from frijōndz, from prēy-. Cognate with freon, froen, freondinne, vriend, frund, fründ, Freund, frænde, frände, frændi, 034603420339033E0349033D03330343. More at free.
friendnoun
An associate who provides assistance.
Etymology: From frend, freond, from freond, from frijōndz, from prēy-. Cognate with freon, froen, freondinne, vriend, frund, fründ, Freund, frænde, frände, frændi, 034603420339033E0349033D03330343. More at free.
friendnoun
A person with whom one is vaguely or indirectly acquainted
Etymology: From frend, freond, from freond, from frijōndz, from prēy-. Cognate with freon, froen, freondinne, vriend, frund, fründ, Freund, frænde, frände, frændi, 034603420339033E0349033D03330343. More at free.
friendnoun
A person who backs or supports something.
I'm not a friend of cheap wine.
Etymology: From frend, freond, from freond, from frijōndz, from prēy-. Cognate with freon, froen, freondinne, vriend, frund, fründ, Freund, frænde, frände, frændi, 034603420339033E0349033D03330343. More at free.
friendnoun
An object or idea that can be used for good.
Google is your friend.
Etymology: From frend, freond, from freond, from frijōndz, from prēy-. Cognate with freon, froen, freondinne, vriend, frund, fründ, Freund, frænde, frände, frændi, 034603420339033E0349033D03330343. More at free.
friendnoun
Used as a form of address when warning someone.
You'd better watch it, friend.
Etymology: From frend, freond, from freond, from frijōndz, from prēy-. Cognate with freon, froen, freondinne, vriend, frund, fründ, Freund, frænde, frände, frændi, 034603420339033E0349033D03330343. More at free.
friendnoun
In object-oriented programming, a function or class granted special access to the private and protected members of another class.
Etymology: From frend, freond, from freond, from frijōndz, from prēy-. Cognate with freon, froen, freondinne, vriend, frund, fründ, Freund, frænde, frände, frændi, 034603420339033E0349033D03330343. More at free.
friendverb
To act as a friend to, to befriend; to be friendly to, to help.
Etymology: From frend, freond, from freond, from frijōndz, from prēy-. Cognate with freon, froen, freondinne, vriend, frund, fründ, Freund, frænde, frände, frændi, 034603420339033E0349033D03330343. More at free.
friendverb
To add a person to a list of friends on one's social networking site; to officially designate (someone) as a friend.
Etymology: From frend, freond, from freond, from frijōndz, from prēy-. Cognate with freon, froen, freondinne, vriend, frund, fründ, Freund, frænde, frände, frændi, 034603420339033E0349033D03330343. More at free.
Friendnoun
A Quaker; a member of the Society of Friends.
Etymology: From frend, freond, from freond, from frijōndz, from prēy-. Cognate with freon, froen, freondinne, vriend, frund, fründ, Freund, frænde, frände, frændi, 034603420339033E0349033D03330343. More at free.
Friendnoun
(rock-climbing) Brand name of a spring-loaded camming device now manufactured by Wild Country. Now used (often without initial capital) to refer to any such device.
See
Etymology: From frend, freond, from freond, from frijōndz, from prēy-. Cognate with freon, froen, freondinne, vriend, frund, fründ, Freund, frænde, frände, frændi, 034603420339033E0349033D03330343. More at free.

Webster Dictionary(4.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

Friendnoun
one who entertains for another such sentiments of esteem, respect, and affection that he seeks his society aud welfare; a wellwisher; an intimate associate; sometimes, an attendant
Etymology: [OE. frend, freond, AS. frend, prop. p. pr. of fren, fregan, to love; akin to D. vriend friend, OS. friund friend, friohan to love, OHG. friunt friend, G. freund, Icel. frndi kinsman, Sw. frnde. Goth. frijnds friend, frijn to love. 83. See Free, and cf. Fiend.]
Friendnoun
one not inimical or hostile; one not a foe or enemy; also, one of the same nation, party, kin, etc., whose friendly feelings may be assumed. The word is some times used as a term of friendly address
Etymology: [OE. frend, freond, AS. frend, prop. p. pr. of fren, fregan, to love; akin to D. vriend friend, OS. friund friend, friohan to love, OHG. friunt friend, G. freund, Icel. frndi kinsman, Sw. frnde. Goth. frijnds friend, frijn to love. 83. See Free, and cf. Fiend.]
Friendnoun
one who looks propitiously on a cause, an institution, a project, and the like; a favorer; a promoter; as, a friend to commerce, to poetry, to an institution
Etymology: [OE. frend, freond, AS. frend, prop. p. pr. of fren, fregan, to love; akin to D. vriend friend, OS. friund friend, friohan to love, OHG. friunt friend, G. freund, Icel. frndi kinsman, Sw. frnde. Goth. frijnds friend, frijn to love. 83. See Free, and cf. Fiend.]
Friendnoun
one of a religious sect characterized by disuse of outward rites and an ordained ministry, by simplicity of dress and speech, and esp. by opposition to war and a desire to live at peace with all men. They are popularly called Quakers
Etymology: [OE. frend, freond, AS. frend, prop. p. pr. of fren, fregan, to love; akin to D. vriend friend, OS. friund friend, friohan to love, OHG. friunt friend, G. freund, Icel. frndi kinsman, Sw. frnde. Goth. frijnds friend, frijn to love. 83. See Free, and cf. Fiend.]
Friendnoun
a paramour of either sex
Etymology: [OE. frend, freond, AS. frend, prop. p. pr. of fren, fregan, to love; akin to D. vriend friend, OS. friund friend, friohan to love, OHG. friunt friend, G. freund, Icel. frndi kinsman, Sw. frnde. Goth. frijnds friend, frijn to love. 83. See Free, and cf. Fiend.]
Friendverb
to act as the friend of; to favor; to countenance; to befriend
Etymology: [OE. frend, freond, AS. frend, prop. p. pr. of fren, fregan, to love; akin to D. vriend friend, OS. friund friend, friohan to love, OHG. friunt friend, G. freund, Icel. frndi kinsman, Sw. frnde. Goth. frijnds friend, frijn to love. 83. See Free, and cf. Fiend.]

Freebase(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

Friend
Friend is a city in Saline County, Nebraska, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,027.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

Friend
frend, n. one loving or attached to another: an intimate acquaintance: a favourer: one of a society so called: (Scot.) a relative.—v.t. (obs.) to befriend.—adj. Friend′ed, supplied with friends.—n. Friend′ing (Shak.), friendliness.—adj. Friend′less, without friends: destitute.—n. Friend′lessness.—adv. Friend′lily.—n. Friend′liness.—adj. Friend′ly, like a friend: having the disposition of a friend: favourable: pertaining to the Friends or Quakers.—n. Friend′ship, attachment from mutual esteem: friendly assistance.—Friendly societies, or Benefit societies, associations, chiefly among mechanics, &c., for relief during sickness, old age, widowhood, by provident insurance.—Be friends with, to be on intimate or friendly relations with; Have a friend at court, to have a friend in a position where his influence is likely to prove useful; Society of Friends, the designation proper of a sect of Christians better known as Quakers. [A.S. fréond, pr.p. of fréon, to love; Ger. freund.]

The Roycroft Dictionary(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

friend
The masterpiece of Nature.

Rap Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

friendnoun
A firearm, orginally from the movie Scarface. "Stay in your place I recommend, Or say hello to my little friend" -- G-Unit (My Buddy)

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

friend
A person we love to share time with.
We are so grateful in life to have a friend.
Submitted by MaryC on July 17, 2020

Suggested Resources(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

friend
Song lyrics by friend -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by friend on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'friend' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #579
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'friend' in Written Corpus Frequency: #803
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'friend' in Nouns Frequency: #76

Anagrams for friend »

finder
refind
finder, refind

How to pronounce friend?

Alex
US English
David
US English
Mark
US English
Daniel
British
Libby
British
Mia
British
Karen
Australian
Hayley
Australian
Natasha
Australian
Veena
Indian
Priya
Indian
Neerja
Indian
Zira
US English
Oliver
British
Wendy
British
Fred
US English
Tessa
South African

How to say friend in sign language?

Numerology

Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of friend in Chaldean Numerology is: 7
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of friend in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of friend in a Sentence

Jang Se-yul:
No one knows ... his company runs business as usual. That’s why what he does is scarier, my friend, who belongs to a rural area, could bring all of his family to Pyongyang. Incentives for North Korea’s cyber experts are very strong ... they are rich people in Pyongyang.
Bernie Sanders:
If elected president, I will work tirelessly to advance the cause of peace as a partner and as a friend to Israel. But to be successful, we have to be a friend not only to Israel, but to the Palestinian people.
Laurence J. Peter:
You can always tell a real friend when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job.
Ralph Waldo Emerson:
He who has a thousand friendsHas not a friend to spare,While he who has one enemyShall meet him everywhere.
Donald Trump:
It has not been an issue for us. I have great respect for her, she's been a great friend to me. I've been a great friend to her. So, you know, the politics of our parents is not relevant to our friendship.