Etymology
1. O.E.
freond, prp. of
freogan "to love, to favor," from P.Gmc.
*frijojanan "to love" (cf. O.N.
frændi, O.Fris.
friund, M.H.G.
friunt, Ger.
Freund, Goth.
frijonds "friend," all alike from prp. forms). Related to O.E.
freo "free." Meaning "A Quaker" (a member of the
Society of Friends) is from 1679.
Feond ("fiend," originally "enemy") and
freond, often paired in O.E., both are masculine agent nouns derived from prp. of verbs, but are not directly related to one another.
2. Etymology tree
3. Proto-Indo-European *preyH-
4. Proto-Indo-European *-ós
5. Proto-Indo-European *priHós
6. Proto-Germanic *frijōną
7. Proto-Germanic *frijōndz
8. Proto-West Germanic *friund
9. Old English frēond
10. Middle English frend
11. English friend
12. 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.
13. Cognates
14. 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. See: Danish '
frænde', Swedish '
frände'.
Verbs referencing "friend"
Scots
fre, Russian
зафрендить.