Friend (fr&ebreve;nd), n. [OR.
frend, freond, AS. freónd, prop. p. pr.
of freón, freógan, to love; akin to D.
vriend friend, OS. friund friend, friohan to
love, OHG. friunt friend, G. freund, Icel.
frændi kinsman, Sw. frände. Goth.
frijōnds friend, frijōn to love. √83.
See Free, and cf. Fiend.] 1. One
who entertains for another such sentiments of esteem, respect, and
affection that he seeks his society and welfare; a wellwisher; an
intimate associate; sometimes, an attendant.
Want gives to know the flatterer from the
friend.
Dryden.
A friend that sticketh closer than a
brother.
Prov. xviii. 24.
2. 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.
Friend, how camest thou in hither?
Matt. xxii. 12.
3. 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.
4. 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.
America was first visited by Friends in
1656.
T. Chase.
5. A paramour of either sex. [Obs.]
Shak.
A friend at court or in court,
one disposed to act as a friend in a place of special opportunity
or influence. -- To be friends with, to
have friendly relations with. "He's . . . friends with
Cæsar." Shak. -- To make friends with,
to become reconciled to or on friendly terms with. "Having
now made friends with the Athenians." Jowett
(Thucyd.).
Friend, v. t. [imp. & p.
p. Friended; p. pr. & vb. n.
Friending.] To act as the friend of; to favor; to
countenance; to befriend. [Obs.]
Fortune friends the bold.
Spenser.
