English

best friend

An especially close and trusted friend.

    Etymology graph

    • inherited
    • borrowed
    • derived
    • parts
    • meaning component
    • sound component
    • related
    React Flow

    Click a node to zoom in · double-click to open it

    Origin

    From Middle English best frend, best freond, equivalent to best + friend. Compare West Frisian bêste freon (“best friend”), Dutch beste vriend (“best friend”), German bester Freund (“best friend”).

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishbest frend
    • surface analysisEnglishbest “Most; largest.”
    • surface analysisEnglishfriend “A person, typically someone other than a family member, spouse or lover, whose company one enjoys a…”

    Related: West Frisian bêste freon, Dutch beste vriend, German bester Freund

    Sources