Etymograph

English

friendly

Friendly comes from Middle English frendly, from Old English frēondlīċ, from Proto-Germanic *frijōndlīkaz ‘friendlike’, from *frijōndz ‘friend’ + *-līkaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*frijōndz1‘friend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*frijōndlīkaz2‘friendlike’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*frijōndlīk3reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150frēondlīċ2‘friendly’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500frendly2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1712friendly2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *frijōndlīkaz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English friendly
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English freondlic
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1712, Joseph Addison, Cato: “Coarſe are his Meals, the Fortune of the Chaſe,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*frijōndzWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *frijōndlīkaz‘friend’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*frijōndlīkazWiktionary, English friendly‘friendlike’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*frijōndlīkWiktionary, Old English freondlicreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150frēondlīċWiktionary, English friendly‘friendly’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500frendlyWiktionary, English friendly
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1712friendlyWiktionary, English friendly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1712, Joseph Addison, Cato: “Coarſe are his Meals, the Fortune of the Chaſe,…”

Formed from friend + -ly

Proto-Indo-European *preyH- ‘to please’

Proto-Germanic *frijōndz ‘friend’

Proto-West Germanic *friund

Old English frēond

Middle English freend

English friend

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *frijōndz ‘friend, loved one’

unfriend, 4 more

Another origin of friendly

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*preyH-‘to like, love’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*frijōną‘to love, to free’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*frijōndz‘friend, loved one’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*friund‘friend’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150frēond‘friend’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150frēondlīċe‘in a friendly manner’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500frendly‘friendlily’
  8. Englishtodayfriendly

Today it means

adj Generally warm, approachable and easy to relate with in character.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “friendly”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *frijōndlīkaz, Old English freondlic. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *frijōndz / friendly

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