Etymograph

English

friendship

Friendship comes from Middle English frendschipe, from Old English frēondsċiepe, from Proto-West Germanic *friundskapi (friend + -ship).

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*friundskapi1reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150frēondsċiepe1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500frendschipe1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1570friendship1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English friendship
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1570, William Lambard, A Perambulation of Kent: “But (as the Poet ſaith) Malè ſarta gratia, nequicquam…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*friundskapiWiktionary, English friendshipreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150frēondsċiepeWiktionary, English friendship
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500frendschipeWiktionary, English friendship
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1570friendshipWiktionary, English friendship. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1570, William Lambard, A Perambulation of Kent: “But (as the Poet ſaith) Malè ſarta gratia, nequicquam…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with friendship, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-West Germanic *friund ‘friend’

  • unfriend ← onfrend ← frend ← frēond

4 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun The condition of being friends.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “friendship”. 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-West Germanic *friundskapi / friendship