befriend

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /bɪˈfrɛnd/ UK /bɪˈfrɛnd/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to act as a friend to; to help or favor

She befriended the lonely newcomer at school.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to act as a friend to; to... help aid assist support favor welcome

Opposites

betray abandon alienate shun

Word family

Derived forms befriendedbefriending

Related forms friend

Etymology

From the prefix be- (here 'to make, treat as') + friend. Friend is from Old English frēond ('friend'), originally the present participle of frēon ('to love'), from Proto-Germanic *frijōną.

be- Old English frēond Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# befriend

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /bɪˈfrɛnd/
**IPA (UK):** /bɪˈfrɛnd/

## Meanings
1. to act as a friend to; to help or favor

## Examples
- She befriended the lonely newcomer at school.

## Synonyms
- help
- aid
- assist
- support
- favor
- welcome

## Antonyms
- betray
- abandon
- alienate
- shun

## Derived Forms
- befriended
- befriending

## Related Forms
- friend

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: be-
- Root: frēond

## Etymology
From the prefix be- (here 'to make, treat as') + friend. Friend is from Old English frēond ('friend'), originally the present participle of frēon ('to love'), from Proto-Germanic *frijōną.

## AI Etymology
Befriend is from the prefix be- (here 'to make, treat as') + friend. Friend is from Old English frēond ('friend'), originally the present participle of frēon ('to love'), from Proto-Germanic *frijōną. Important recorded forms include be- (Old English) and frēond (Old English). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers to act as a friend to; to help or favor. The wider family includes derived forms such as befriended and befriending and related words such as friend.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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