friendship

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From Middle English frendshipe, from Old English frēondsċiepe, from Proto-West Germanic *friundskapi. Equivalent to friend +‎ -ship.

• enPR: frĕn(d)'shĭp, IPA^(key): /ˈfɹɛn(d)ʃɪp/

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friendship (countable and uncountable, plural friendships)

1. (uncountable) The condition of being friends.
   • 1570, William Lambard, quoting Horace, A Perambulation of Kent‎^[1], published 1596, page 341:

     But (as the Poet ſaith) Malè ſarta gratia, nequicquam coit, & reſcinditur: Friendſhip, that is but euill peeced, will not ioine cloſe, but falleth aſunder againe:

   • 1816 [1777], James Boswell, quoting Samuel Johnson, The life of Samuel Johnson […] ‎^[2], volume 3, T. Cadell and W. Davies, page 181:

     We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over.

   • 1960, C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves, HarperCollins, published 2010, →ISBN, →OCLC:

     Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.

   • 2021 July 20, Sarah Molano, “Most romantic relationships start as friendships, study finds”, in CNN‎^[3]:

     “They’re cuddling by the fire, they’re going on trips together, they’re introducing their friends to their family, but they’re very clear that those are friendships,” Stinson said. “It really makes me think about the definitions that we have about friendship and romance, and how those things differ, and I just like how messy it all is.”

2. (countable) A friendly relationship, or a relationship as friends.
   • 2021 July 20, Sarah Molano, “Most romantic relationships start as friendships, study finds”, in CNN‎^[4]:

     “They’re cuddling by the fire, they’re going on trips together, they’re introducing their friends to their family, but they’re very clear that those are friendships,” Stinson said. “It really makes me think about the definitions that we have about friendship and romance, and how those things differ, and I just like how messy it all is.”

   • 2024 August 4, Terry Ward, “Fragile and complex, female friendships hinge on the three S’s, a new book says”, in CNN‎^[5]:

     In good times and bad, in sickness and health, the benefits of friendships between women are physically and psychologically undeniable.

3. (uncountable) Good will.

• (being friends): chumship
• (friendly relationship): entente cordiale

• enemyship
• foeship

• friending
• mateship