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Friend vs Fiend - What's the difference?

friend | fiend |

In informal terms the difference between friend and fiend

is that friend is an object or idea that can be used for good while fiend is an addict or fanatic.

In obsolete terms the difference between friend and fiend

is that friend is a paramour of either sex while fiend is an enemy, unfriend, or foe.

As nouns the difference between friend and fiend

is that friend is a person other than a family member, spouse or lover whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection while fiend is an enemy, unfriend, or foe.

As a verb friend

is to act as a friend to, to befriend; to be friendly to, to help.

As a proper noun Friend

is {{surname|from=common nouns}.

friend

English

(Friendship)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A person other than a family member, spouse or lover whose company one enjoys and towards whom one feels affection.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. At the same time he cast off the chrysalis of a commonplace existence.}}
  • A boyfriend or girlfriend.
  • An associate who provides assistance.
  • A person with whom one is vaguely or indirectly acquainted
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
  • , volume=189, issue=2, page=27, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",
  • A person who backs or supports something.
  • (informal) An object or idea that can be used for good.
  • (colloquial, ironic, used only in the vocative) Used as a form of address when warning someone.
  • (computing, programming) In object-oriented programming, a function or class granted special access to the private and protected members of another class.
  • * 1991 , Tom Swan, Learning C++
  • But don't take the following sections as an endorsement of friends'. Top C++ programmers avoid using ' friends unless absolutely necessary.
  • * 2001 , Stephen Prata, C++ primer plus
  • In that case, the function needn't (and shouldn't) be a friend .
  • * 2008 , D S Malik, C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design
  • To make a function be a friend to a class, the reserved word friend precedes the function prototype
  • (obsolete) A paramour of either sex.
  • (Shakespeare)

    Synonyms

    * (person whose company one enjoys) bud (qualifier), buddy (qualifier), chum (British), mate (British), pal, crony, amigo, bro * (boyfriend or girlfriend) boyfriend, girlfriend, lover * (person with whom you are acquainted) acquaintance * (person who provides assistance) ally * (person who backs something) admirer, booster, champion, protagonist, supporter * (form of address used in warning someone) buster, mate (British), pal, buddy * See also

    Antonyms

    * (person whose company one enjoys) enemy, foe, nemesis (nonstandard) * (person who provides assistance) enemy, foe

    Usage notes

    * We usually make a friend'', or ''make friends with someone. See

    Derived terms

    * a friend in need is a friend indeed * best friend * befriend * bosom friend * boy friend * boyfriend * circle of friends * close friend * fair-weather friend * false friend * four-legged friend * * friend of mine * friend of ours * friend with benefits * friendish * friendless * friendly * Friends * friendship * friends list * friendsome * friend zone * girl friend * girlfriend * good friend * identification friend or foe * lady friend * man's best friend * old friend * penfriend, pen friend, pen-friend * schoolfriend

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To act as a friend to, to befriend; to be friendly to, to help.
  • * 1596 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , IV.ii:
  • Lo sluggish Knight the victors happie pray: / So fortune friends the bold [...].
  • To add (a person) to a list of friends on a social networking site; to officially designate (someone) as a friend.
  • * 2006 , David Fono and Kate Raynes-Goldie, " Hyperfriendship and Beyond: Friends and Social Norms on LiveJournal]" ([http://k4t3.org/publications/hyperfriendship.pdf PDF version]), Internet Research Annual Volume 4 , Peter Lang, ISBN 0820478571, page [http://books.google.com/books?q=%22friend+them%22+consalvo&btnG=Search+Books 99,
  • The difference between responses to the statement, "If someone friends' me, I will '''friend''' them," and "If I '''friend''' someone, I expect them to ' friend me back," is telling.
  • * 2006 , Kevin Farnham and Dale G. Farnham, Myspace Safety: 51 Tips for Teens And Parents , How-To Primers, ISBN 0977883353, page 69,
  • One of the most used features of MySpace is the practice that is nicknamed "friending." If you "friend " someone, then that person is added to your MySpace friends list, and you are added to their friends list.

    Synonyms

    * (to act as the friend of) befriend

    Antonyms

    * (social networking) defriend, unfriend

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * (l) * (l) 1000 English basic words ----

    fiend

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (l)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) An enemy, unfriend, or foe.
  • (religious, archaic) The enemy of mankind, specifically, the Devil; Satan.
  • * 1971 , , Religion and the Decline of Magic , Folio Society 2012, p. 35:
  • At the confirmation ceremony the bishop would lay his hands on the child and tie around its forehead a linen band […]. This was believed to strengthen him against the assaults of the fiend […].
  • A devil or demon; a malignant or diabolical being; an evil spirit.
  • * 1845 , E.A. Poe, "The Raven"
  • "Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend! "
  • A very evil person
  • (informal) An addict or fanatic
  • a jazz fiend

    Derived terms

    * fienddom/fiendom * fiendful * fiendhood * fiendish * fiendkin * fiendlike * fiendling * fiendly * fiendness * fiendship * dope fiend

    Synonyms

    * monster

    Anagrams

    * * *