friend

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Person on intimate terms with another

Nouns

1. friend, acquaintance, neighbor, well-wisher; alter ego; bosom or fast friend, gentleman or lady friend; partner; fidus Achates; persona grata; associate, compeer, comrade, mate, companion, confrère, colleague, compatriot, compadre, brother, intimate, confidant[e], hail-fellow; countryman. See accompaniment.

2. (supporter) patron, Maecenas; tutelary saint, guardian angel, good genius, advocate, partisan, sympathizer; ally; friend-in-need; associate. See benevolence.

3. (informal friend) best friend, crony, chum, playfellow, playmate; schoolfellow, schoolmate; shopmate, shipmate, messmate, roommate; fellow, boon companion; regular guy or fellow. Informal, sidekick, homeboy or -girl, jasper, cotton-picker, punk. Slang, pal, ace, running partner, soul brother or sister, asshole buddy, cuz, dude.

4. (famous friends) Pylades and Orestes, Castor and Pollux, Nisus and Euryalus, Damon and Pythias, David and Jonathan, Three Musketeers, Achilles and Patroclus.

5. (quality of being friends) friendship, friendliness, amity, brotherhood, bonhomie; harmony, concord, peace; cordiality, fraternization; fellowship, familiarity, intimacy, comradeship, common touch. See sociality,

benevolence.

Verbs — make friends with, receive with open arms; fraternize (see sociality), get along with; chase or run after; befriend, take up with, warm up to. Informal, hit it off, take to, stand in with, go steady. Slang, cozy up, shine up to.

Adjectives — friendly, amicable, cordial; hospitable, neighborly, brotherly, sisterly, collegial; hearty, bosom, warmhearted, familiar; on good terms, friends with, in with, on one's good side. Slang, tight.

Phrases — a friend in need is a friend indeed; save us from our friends; be kind to your friends: if it weren't for them, you would be a total stranger.

Quotations — We can scarcely hate any one that we know (William Hazlitt), One soul inhabiting two bodies (Aristotle), Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? (Robert Burns), God's apology for relations (Hugh Kingsmill), Friends are born, not made (Henry Adams), Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (Bible), A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature (Emerson), Friendship needs no words — it is solitude delivered from the anguish of loneliness (Dag Hammarskjöld), A true friend is the most precious of all possessions and the one we take the least thought about acquiring (La Rochefoucauld), Of two close friends, one is always the slave of the other (Mikhail Lermontov).

Antonyms, see opposition.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [A person with whom one has mutual attachment]

Syn. companion, intimate, confidant, comrade, familiar, schoolmate, playmate, best friend, close friend, roommate, bedfellow, fellow, fast friend, bosom friend, boon companion, mate, alter ego, other self, soul mate, crony*, buddy*, sidekick*, bosom buddy*, homeboy*, homegirl*.

Ant. foe, enemy*, stranger.

2. [An ally]

Syn. compatriot, confrere, colleague; see associate .

3. [A patron]

Syn. supporter, backer, advocate, sympathizer; see patron 1 .

• make friends with,

Syn. befriend, strike up a friendship with, buddy up to*; see associate 1 .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

confidant, pal, *buddy, companion, sidekick, alter ego, chum, playmate, *soul mate, *bro, crony, amigo. A person with whom you dare to be yourself.''—Frank Crane. The medicine of life.''—Bible. The best mirror.''—George Herbert. One who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.''—Walter Winchell.

ANT.: enemy, adversary, stranger

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. A person whom one knows well, likes, and trusts: amigo, brother, chum, confidant, confidante, familiar, intimate1, mate. Informal: bud2, buddy, pal. Slang: sidekick. See LOVE. 2. A person whom one knows casually: acquaintance. See KNOWLEDGE. 3. A person who supports or champions an activity, cause, or institution, for example: backer, benefactor, contributor, patron, sponsor, supporter. Informal: angel. See HELP.