Friend
Old English frēond, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch vriend and German Freund, from an Indo-European root meaning ‘to love’, shared by free.
wiktionary
From Middle English frend, freend, from Old English frēond(“friend, relative, lover”, literally “loving[-one]”), from Proto-Germanic *frijōndz(“lover, friend”), from Proto-Indo-European *preyH-(“to like, love”), equivalent to free + -nd. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Früünd(“friend”), West Frisian freon, froen, freondinne(“friend”), Dutch vriend(“friend”), Low German Frund, Fründ(“friend, relative”), Luxembourgish Frënd(“friend”), German Freund(“friend”), Danish frænde(“kinsman”), Swedish frände(“kinsman, relative”), Icelandic frændi(“kinsman”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌾𐍉𐌽𐌳𐍃( frijōnds, “friend”). More at free.
etymonline
friend (n.)
Old English freond "one attached to another by feelings of personal regard and preference," from Proto-Germanic *frijōjands "lover, friend" (source also of Old Norse frændi, Old Danish frynt, Old Frisian friund, Dutch vriend, Middle High German friunt, German Freund, Gothic frijonds "friend"), from PIE *priy-ont-, "loving," present-participle form of root *pri- "to love."
Meaning "a Quaker" (a member of the Society of Friends) is from 1670s. Feond ("fiend," originally "enemy") and freond often were paired alliteratively in Old English; both are masculine agent nouns derived from present participle of verbs, but they are not directly related to one another (see fiend). Related: Friends.
friend (v.)
in the Facebook sense, attested from 2005, from the noun. Friend occasionally has been used as a verb in English since c. 1200 ("to be friends"), though the more usual verb for "join in friendship, act as a friend" is befriend. Related: Friended; friending. Old English had freonsped "an abundance of friends" (see speed (n.)); freondleast "want of friends;" freondspedig "rich in friends."
