OED derives the West Germanic stem vowel from *iu, produced by contraction of the base vowel *ī, earlier *ij, with the participial suffix vowel; Old English ēo and īo reflect branch and dialect development.
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frēond
friend, relation, or one favorably disposed; historically an nd-stem agent noun
OPEN NODE 1311 ↗DESCENDS FROM→
PARENT / EARLIER FORM / reconstructedProto-Germanic · normalized Proto-Germanic participial formation · loving one proto germanic present participle*frijōnd-
a reconstructed present-participial formation, the loving or favorably disposed one
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An inherited present-participial agent formation functions as the ordinary noun friend, relation, or favored person in Old English.
Proto-Germanic reconstruction into Old English textual evidence.
Oxford English Dictionary editors · American Heritage Dictionary editors
probable — The cross-Germanic set and participial morphology are published, but *frijōnd- is reconstructed and the exact prehistoric phonetic sequence was never written down.
reviewed
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CITATION REGISTER
SOURCES ON THIS EDGE
Oxford English Dictionary — friend, n. & adj.Etymology Summary and Form history
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Publishes the cross-Germanic cognates, participial analysis, and stem-vowel history.
An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online — freóndGrammar and etymology: freónd, friónd; freónde loving
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Supplies the attested Old English noun, paradigm, and explicit participial analysis.
American Heritage Dictionary — friendEtymology and Word History
contextAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Independently connects Modern English friend through Old English frēond to a Germanic present participle.
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