Freund

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from German Freund (literally “friend”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Proper noun

Freund m anim (feminine Freundová)

1. a male surname from German

Declension

This proper noun needs an inflection-table template.

German

Etymology

From Middle High German vriunt, from Old High German friunt, from Proto-West Germanic *friund, from Proto-Germanic *frijōndz (“lit., the loving one; lover, loved one, friend”), from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *preyH-.

Compare Dutch vriend, German Low German Fründ, Luxembourgish Frënd, West Frisian freon, English friend, Danish frænde (“relative”), Faroese frændi (“friend, relative”), Icelandic frændi (“relative”), Norwegian Bokmål frende (“relative”), Norwegian Nynorsk frende (“relative”), Swedish frände (“relative”), Welsh ffrind (“friend”), Yiddish פֿרײַנד (fraynd, “friend”), Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌾𐍉𐌽𐌳𐍃 (frijōnds, “friend”), Old English frēond (“friend, lover”), Old Norse frændi (“friend, relative”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /frɔʏ̯nt/,

• audio (Austria)

  (file)

Noun

Freund m (strong, genitive Freundes or Freunds, plural Freunde, feminine Freundin)

1. friend

   Lass uns Freunde bleiben. ― Let’s stay friends.

2. boyfriend

   Hast du einen Freund? ― Do you have a boyfriend?

3. (obsolete) blood relative (in the sense of a person that is or should be one’s friend by nature)

Usage notes

• Freund (and Freundin) may refer to either a platonic friend or a romantic partner. When used in the singular with a possessive (mein Freund, ihr Freund, etc.), the word usually has a romantic implication, unless the context suggests otherwise. When used with an indefinite article (ein Freund, eine Freundin), a platonic relationship is assumed.
• If it's necessary to distinguish between a platonic and a romantic relationship, feste(r) Freund(in) (lit. steady boyfriend/girlfriend) always indicates a romantic relationship. Another qualifier with Freund(in), such as gute(r) or beste(r) usually indicates a platonic relationship.

  Ich kann dein guter Freund sein, aber ich kann nicht dein fester Freund sein.

  I can be your good friend, but I can't be your boyfriend.

• Most derived terms, such as befreundet or Freundschaft, are restricted to the platonic sense, however.

Declension

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Proper noun

Freund m or f (proper noun, surname, masculine genitive Freunds or (with an article) Freund, feminine genitive Freund, plural Freunds)

1. a surname

Further reading

• “Freund” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Freund” in Duden online