The agent noun is built with Germanic present-participial nd-morphology on the *frī- or earlier *frij- base. OED traces the later *iu diphthong to contraction with the suffixal vowel.
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP RECORD
COVERAGE LEDGER ↗EDGE / 1276participial derivationprobable
A CLAIM
YOU CAN AUDIT.
A relationship—not a generated explanation. Both endpoints, every editorial field, every citation, and every dossier reuse are preserved below.
*frijōnd-
a reconstructed present-participial formation, the loving or favorably disposed one
OPEN NODE 1312 ↗DESCENDS FROM→
PARENT / EARLIER FORM / reconstructedProto-Germanic · Germanic lexical base · love like befriend free germanic base*frī-
to like, love, or be friendly to; also represented in the free verb family
OPEN NODE 1313 ↗01
THE COMPLETE RELATIONSHIP
EVERY FIELD, NOT A FAIRY TALE
A productive loving or favorably disposed participant becomes a lexical noun for friend or relation. The derivation does not make every later friend literally a person performing a continuous act of loving.
Germanic derivation before the daughter-language records.
Oxford English Dictionary editors · Bosworth · Toller · American Heritage Dictionary editors
probable — Three independent dictionary treatments identify the participial relation. The exact lexicalization date and every prehistoric inflection remain unrecoverable.
reviewed
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CITATION REGISTER
SOURCES ON THIS EDGE
Oxford English Dictionary — friend, n. & adj.Etymology Summary; similar formation of fiend; Form history
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Identifies noun use of the present participle and explains the nd-stem class.
An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online — freóndGrammar: freónd, freónde loving, participle of freón
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Makes the Old English participial analysis explicit.
An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online — freónHeadword freón: to free, love
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Supplies the attested Old English verb behind the historical analysis.
American Heritage Dictionary — friendWord History: originally one who loves; Germanic *frī-
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Independently explains the agent meaning and prints the Germanic base.
DWDS — Freund, etymology after Wolfgang PfeiferPfeifer etymology: erstarrtes substantiviertes Präsenspartizip
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Identifies the frozen substantivized present participle and love verb.
Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm — FreundOpening etymology: participle of frijôn, amare
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Independently glosses the formation as a loving one.
Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands — vriendEWN: old present participle of *frijōn- to love
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Explicitly supplies the participial derivation.
Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal — VRIEND IOpening etymology: present participle of Germanic *frijon
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Independently supports the derivation.
Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek — VRIENT IOpening etymology: participle of Germanic vriën, Gothic frijōn
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Adds a third historical-dictionary analysis.
An Icelandic-English Dictionary — FRÆNDIFRÆNDI: irregular participle of obsolete frjá
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Preserves the Old Norse historical-dictionary participial analysis.
Ordbog over Det gamle norske Sprog — frændifrændi: for fríandi or frjándi, present participle of frjá
supportsAUDIT SOURCE ↗ORIGINAL ↗Independently states the participial derivation.
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EDITORIAL REUSE