friendly (adj.)

Old English freondlic "well-disposed, kindly;" see friend (n.) + -ly (1). Related: Friendlily; friendliness. As an adverb Old English had freondliche, but by 14c. as the inflections wore off in English it had become indistinguishable from the adjective. Probably owing to that it is rare in modern use; friendfully (mid-15c.) and the correct but ungainly friendlily (1670s) never caught on.

Entries linking to friendly

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.

ecofriendly (adj.)

also eco-friendly, by 1993, from eco- + friendly.

unfriendly

-ly

See all related words (4) >

Trends of friendly

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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hostile

late 15c., from French hostile "of or belonging to an enemy" (15c.) or directly from Latin hostilis "of an enemy, belonging to or characteristic of the enemy; inimical," from hostis, in earlier use "a stranger, foreigner," in classical use "an enemy," from PIE root *ghos-ti- "str

hostile

familiar

mid-14c., "intimate, very friendly, on a family footing," from Old French famelier "related; friendly," from Latin familiaris..."domestic, private, belonging to a family, of a household;" also "familiar, intimate, friendly," a dissimilation of *familialis...

amiable

late 14c., "kindly, friendly," also "worthy of love or admiration," from Old French amiable "pleasant, kind; worthy to be...loved" (12c.), from Late Latin amicabilis "friendly," from Latin amicus "friend, loved one," noun use of an adjective, "...friendly, loving," from amare "to love" (see Amy)....

blithe

Saxon bliði "bright, happy," Middle Dutch blide, Dutch blijde, Old Norse bliðr "mild, gentle," Old High German blidi "gay, friendly...," Gothic bleiþs "kind, friendly, merciful")....

gracious

c. 1300, "filled with God's grace," from Old French gracios "courteous, pleasing, kind, friendly" (12c., Modern French gracieux...

benign

"kind, benign, merciful, gracious" (12c., Modern French bénin, fem. bénigne), from Latin benignus "kindly, kindhearted, friendly...

well

"in a satisfactory manner," Old English wel "abundantly, very, very much; indeed, to be sure; with good reason; nearly, for the most part," from Proto-Germanic *wel- (source also of Old Saxon wela, Old Norse vel, Old Frisian wel, Dutch wel, Old High German wela, German wohl, Goth

compass

c. 1300, "space, area, extent, circumference," from Old French compas "circle, radius; size, extent; pair of compasses" (12c.), from compasser "to go around, measure (with a compass); divide equally," from Vulgar Latin *compassare "to pace out," from Latin com "with, together" (s

delight

c. 1200, delit, "high degree of pleasure or satisfaction," also "that which gives great pleasure," from Old French delit "pleasure, delight, sexual desire," from delitier "please greatly, charm," from Latin delectare "to allure, delight, charm, please," frequentative of delicere

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updated on September 28, 2017

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Dictionary entries near friendly

fridge

fried

Friedrich

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friendless

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friendship

frieze

frig

frigate

Frigg