From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
friend
n 1: a person you know well and regard with affection and trust;
"he was my best friend at the university"
2: an associate who provides assistance; "he's a good ally in
fight"; "they were friends of the workers" [syn: ally]
[ant: foe]
3: a person with whom you are acquainted; "I have trouble
remembering the names of all my acquaintances"; "we are
friends of the family" [syn: acquaintance]
4: a person who backs a politician or a team etc.; "all their
supporters came out for the game"; "they are friends of
the library" [syn: supporter, protagonist, champion,
admirer, booster]
5: a member of the Religious Society of Friends founded by
George Fox (the Friends have never called themselves
Quakers) [syn: Friend, Quaker]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Friend \Friend\ (fr[e^]nd), n. [OR. frend, freond, AS.
fre['o]nd, prop. p. pr. of fre['o]n, fre['o]gan, to love;
akin to D. vriend friend, OS. friund friend, friohan to love,
OHG. friunt friend, G. freund, Icel. fr[ae]ndi kinsman, Sw.
fr[aum]nde. Goth. frij[=o]nds friend, frij[=o]n to love.
[root]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.
[1913 Webster]
Want gives to know the flatterer from the friend.
--Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
A friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
--Prov. xviii.
24.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
Friend, how camest thou in hither? --Matt. xxii.
12.
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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.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
America was first visited by Friends in 1656. --T.
Chase.
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5. A paramour of either sex. [Obs.] --Shak.
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A friend at court or A friend 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 C[ae]sar." --Shak.
To make friends with, to become reconciled to or on
friendly terms with. "Having now made friends with the
Athenians." --Jowett (Thucyd.).
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Friend \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.]
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Fortune friends the bold. --Spenser.
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From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Sep 2003) [foldoc]:
Friend
Relationship between classes in the language C++.