Friendship word in all languages

Friendship in Different Languages: The importance of friendships is universally recognized throughout all cultures.  A healthy relationship plays a vital role in human development and adjustment for a lifetime. If you have had a friend for years, or they are a relatively recent acquaintance, you have a close relationship with them. It could be a new friend you made at work or school, or perhaps someone you bond with over a favorite sport or TV show. It does not matter how much time you spend together with your best friend to maintain your relationship. Many of your best friends may be far away from you for a long time. It feels as if nothing has changed between you and them once you get in touch.

Friendship in European Languages

Translation of word Friendship in almost 42 European languages.

Different Languages	Word Friendship
Albanian	miqësi
Basque	adiskidetasuna
Belarusian	дружба
Bosnian	prijateljstvo
Bulgarian	приятелство
Catalan	amistat
Corsican	amicizia
Croatian	prijateljstvo
Czech	přátelství
Danish	venskab
Dutch	vriendschap
Estonian	sõprus
Finnish	ystävyys
French	relation amicale
Frisian	freonskip
Galician	amizade
German	Freundschaft
Greek	φιλία [filía]
Hungarian	barátság
Icelandic	Vináttu
Irish	cairdeas
Italian	amicizia
Latvian	draudzība
Lithuanian	Draugystė
Luxembourgish	Frëndschaft
Macedonian	пријателство
Maltese	ħbiberija
Norwegian	vennskap
Polish	przyjaźń
Portuguese	amizade
Romanian	prietenie
Russian	дружба [druzhba]
Scots Gaelic	càirdeas
Serbian	пријатељство [prijateljstvo]
Slovak	priateľstvo
Slovenian	prijateljstvo
Spanish	amistad
Swedish	vänskap
Tatar	дуслык
Ukrainian	дружба [druzhba]
Welsh	cyfeillgarwch
Yiddish	פרייַנדשאַפט

Translation of word Friendship in almost 36 Asian languages.

Different Languages	Word Friendship
Armenian	բարեկամություն
Azerbaijani	dostluq
Bengali	বন্ধুত্ব
Chinese Simplified	友谊 [yǒuyì]
Chinese Traditional	友誼 [yǒuyì]
Georgian	მეგობრობისათვის
Gujarati	મિત્રતા
Hindi	मित्रता
Hmong	kev phooj ywg
Japanese	友情
Kannada	ಸ್ನೇಹಕ್ಕಾಗಿ
Kazakh	достық
Khmer	ចំណងមិត្ដភាព
Korean	우정 [ujeong]
Kyrgyz	достук
Lao	ມິດຕະພາບ
Malayalam	സൗഹൃദം
Marathi	मैत्री
Mongolian	нөхөрлөл
Myanmar (Burmese)	ချစ်ကြည်ရင်းနှီးမှု
Nepali	मित्रता
Odia	ବନ୍ଧୁତା
Pashto	ملګرتیا
Punjabi	ਦੋਸਤੀ
Sindhi	دوستي
Sinhala	මිත්රත්වය
Tajik	дӯстӣ
Tamil	நட்பு
Telugu	స్నేహం
Thai	มิตรภาพ
Turkish	dostluk
Turkmen	dostluk
Urdu	دوستی
Uyghur	دوستلۇق
Uzbek	do’stlik
Vietnamese	hữu nghị

Friendship in Middle East Languages

Translation of word Friendship in 4 middle eastern languages.

Different Languages	Word Friendship
Arabic	صداقة [sadaqa]
Hebrew	חֲבֵרוּת
Kurdish (Kurmanji)	dostî
Persian	دوستی

Friendship in African Languages

Translation of word Friendship in almost 13 African languages.

Different Languages	Word Friendship
Afrikaans	vriendskap
Amharic	ጓደኝነት
Chichewa	ubwenzi
Hausa	aminci
Igbo	enyi
Kinyarwanda	ubucuti
Sesotho	setsoalle
Shona	ushamwari
Somali	saaxiibtinimo
Swahili	urafiki
Xhosa	ubuhlobo
Yoruba	ore
Zulu	ubungani

Friendship in Austronesian Languages

Translation of word Friendship in almost 10 Austronesian languages.

Different Languages	Word Friendship
Cebuano	panaghigalaay
Filipino	pakikipagkaibigan
Hawaiian	aloha
Indonesian	persahabatan
Javanese	Persahabatan
Malagasy	fisakaizana
Malay	persahabatan
Maori	auhoaraa
Samoan	faigauo
Sundanese	sosobatan

Friendship in Other Foreign Languages

Different Languages	Word Friendship
Esperanto	amikeco
Haitian Creole	amitye
Latin	amicitia

True friends are never apart, maybe in distance, but never in heart

While the world may seem to be filled with many differences, friendship and fellowship are universal. Many of us have friends located all over the world, whether we met them online or during past travels. Why not impress these friends or make new ones by knowing how to greet them in the language of their country. Below you will find out how to say friend in any and every country.

Get ready to impress your friends, amigos, freunde, péngyǒumen, rafikis, and dost around the world.

Do you know:
July 30th is International Day of Friendship and the ideal opportunity for celebrating our friends around the world

There’s no shortage of words for friend and ways to call someone a friend in many languages around the world. The words may be different, but the good intentions and intended joy are one and the same, with infinite feelings no matter which country you may find yourself in. You can learn a lot about a region and its inhabitants from the way the locals express themselves and a benefit of traveling is this experience gained. 

It’s always a good idea to know a few words in the language of the country you’re exploring. Start conversations, impress the locals, and make a new best friend by learning these other words too:

Friendship around the World

Good friends are like stars.
You don’t always see them, but you know they’re always there

Continue reading to discover the complete list of friends in all languages. Copy and paste, save to your phone, or print out and stick it in your passport. I’ll be continually updating this as I discover other different languages for friend.

Be sure to bookmark this post so that it’ll always be on hand for when the moment strikes.

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out

FRIEND IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

With pronunciation. In brackets you will find how to pronounce the word as it can often be difficult to know how to vocalise the word just by reading or looking at the direct translation.

Scroll to the bottom for a little bonus! ↓↓

Speaking of best friends in different languages, describe your great love for traveling with friends with these: 50 fun words for travel

How do I say FRIEND in another language? Different languages for friendship?
Find every language in the world here ↓

Let’s get into it…

Here’s how you say “friend” in:

Afrikaans

• vriend
  — is the Afrikaans word for friend
• vriendskap
  — friendship in Afrikaaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language of Southern Africa mostly derived from Dutch. It developed as Dutch settlers and indigenous African mixed languages beginning in the 17th century. Today, an estimated 15 to 23 million people call Afrikaans their mother tongue. It is mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia and can also be heard in parts of Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Albanian

• miq
  — is the Albanian word for friend
• miqësi
  — word for friendship in Albanian

Albanian is an Indo-European language, spoken mainly in Albania and Kosovo, though it is also spoken in other areas of the Balkans. With about 7.5 million speakers, it comprises an independent branch within the Indo-European languages and is not closely related to any other language in Europe.

Alsatian

• freund
  — is the Alsatian word for friend

Alsatian is a West Germanic language spoken by around 900,000 people, mainly in the Alsace region of northeastern France.

Amharic

• ጓደኛ gwadenya
  — is the Amharic word for friend
• ጓደኝነት gwadenyineti

Amharic is a Semitic language and the official language of Ethiopia. It can also be heard in Egypt and Eritrea, as well as in Israel, Sweden, Canada and the United States.

Arabic

• صديق  sadiq
  — the word for friend in Arabic
  
• رفيق  rafiq
• sadaqa
  — means friendship in Arabic

Arabic (العربية) is a Semitic language spoken by over 420 million people as their first language in countries in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and other parts of the Middle East. Many more people can also understand it as a second language. Modern Standard Arabic is the liturgical language for 1.6 billion Muslims and is the official written form of the language with the Arabic alphabet, which is written from right to left.

Aragonese

• amigo
  — masculine version of friend in Aragonese
• amiga
  — feminine form

Aragonese is a language in the Romance language family that is native to Spain and spoken by just over 10, 000 people in the Pyrenees valley of Aragon.

Armenian

• ընկեր ynker
  — friend in Armenian
• բարեկամություն barekamut’yun
  — friendship in Armenian

Armenian is an Indo-European language spoken in the Republic of Armenia, as well as in large communities of Armenian diaspora by around 6.7 million people.

Assamese

• বান্ধৱ
  — friend in Assamese

Assamese is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the northeast Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language. Native to India and Bangladesh, it is spoken by over 23 million people.

Asturian

• amigo
  — friend in Asturian
• amiga

Asturian is a West Iberian Romance language spoken by around 400,000 people in Asturias, Spain.

Azerbaijani

• dost
  — means friend in Azerbaijani
• dostum
• dostluq
  — the word for friendship in Azerbaijani

Azerbaijani or Azeri is the primary and official language of Azerbaijan by its 8.8 million native speakers. It is also widely spoken in Northern Iran and to a small extent in southern Dagestan, the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia, eastern Turkey, in Shia cities of Iraq, like Karbala and Kirkuk. The language is a Turkic language and is highly intelligible with modern-day Turkish.

Basque

• laguna
  — is the Basque word that translates as friends
• adiskidetasuna

Basque (euskara) is a language spoken in the Basque Country (Gipuzkoa, Araba, Bizkaia) and Navarra (in Spain) as well as in the French Basque Country (Labourd, Soule and Basse-Navarre). Linguistically, Basque is a language isolate and is unrelated to the other languages of Europe.

Bavarian / Austrian German

• to say friend in Bavarian use:
  Spezl

Bavarian is a regional dialect of German spoken in the German state of Bavaria, western Austria, and Northeastern Italy by over 14 million people. It uses German grammar, but takes several root words from Latin.

Belarusian

• сябар siabar
  — is the Belarusina word for friend
  
• siabroŭstva
  — friendship in Belarusian
  

Belarusian is the official language of Belarus. This East Slavic language is also spoken in Russia, Ukraine and Poland.

Bengali

• বন্ধু bandhu
  — The Bengali noun for friend
  
• bandhutba
  — means friendship in Bengali
  

Bengali বাংলা is the only official language of Bangladesh, one of the 22 official languages of India, and the sixth most spoken language in the world. It is spoken as a first language by the majority of the population in Bangladesh, as well as people in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Bodo

• suthru

Bodo बर’/बड़ is the Sino-Tibetan language spoken primarily by the Bodo people of Northeast India, Nepal and Bengal. It is official language of the Bodoland Autonomous region and co-official language of the state of Assam in India.

Bosnian

• prijatelj
  — is the Bosnian word for friend
• prijateljstvo
  — friendship pronounced (pre-yah-tell-svo)
  
  

Bosnian, a south Slavic language of the Indo-European family, is the official language of Bosnia and is essentially the same language as Croatian and Serbian. All three languages used to be known as Serbo-Croatian before the break-up of Yugoslavia.

Brazilian Portuguese

• amigo
  —is the word for male friend in Brazilian Portuguese
  
• amiga
  — female friend
  
  

Brazilian Portuguese (Português do Brasil) is the variety of Portuguese dialect spoken in Brazil. It is spoken by virtually all of the 200 million inhabitants of Brazil and spoken widely across the Brazilian diaspora. European Portuguese differs from the Brazilian variety in pronunciation, as well as in some vocabulary.

Breton

• kamarad
  — is the word for friend in Breton
  

Breton is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language spoken in Brittany in the northwest of France.

Bulgarian

• приятел priyatel
  — is the Bulgarian word for friend
  
• приятелство priyatelstvo
  — the word for friendship in Bulgarian
  

Bulgarian is a South Slavic language spoken in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the country’s only official language and Bulgarian is written with Cyrillic.

Burmese

• သူငယ်ချင်း suungaalhkyinn
  — friend in Burmese
• ခင်မင်မှု hkainmainmhu

Burmese is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar where it is an official language and the language of the Bamar people, the country’s principal ethnic group.

Cambodian Khmer

• មិត្តភក្តិ mitt phokte
  — means friend in Khmer
  

Khmer is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. With over 16 million speakers, it is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language.

Catalan

• amic
  — is the word for friend in Catalan, masculine
• amiga
  — feminine form of friend
• amistat
  — friendship in Catalan
  
  

Catalan is a Western Romance language derived from Vulgar Latin and named after the medieval Principality of Catalonia, in northeastern of modern Spain. It is the only official language of Andorra, and a co-official language of the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencia.

Cebuano

• higala

Cebuano, also known as Bisaya or Binisaya, is an Austronesian language spoken in the southern Philippines region in Central Visayas, western parts of Eastern Visayas and the majority of Mindanao.

Chamorro

• amiga
• amigu
• ga’chong

Chamorro is an Austronesian language, the native and spoken language of the Chamorro people, who are the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands.

Cheyenne

• navésé’e
  — this is the Cheyenne for friend, only said by a female, of a female friend
  
• néséne
  — said by a male of a male friend
  

Cheyenne is the Native American language spoken by the Cheyenne people of the United States. It is part of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne are a Native American tribe that live in the Great Plains of Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota.

Chichewa

• mnzanga

Chichewa, also known as Nyanja, is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa. It is the national language of Malawi and is also spoken in Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Chinese Cantonese

How to say friend in Chinese Cantonese:

• 朋友
  — the Chinese word for friend
  pronounced (pang you)

Cantonese is a variety of Chinese originating from the city of Guangzhou and its surrounding area in Southeastern China. Belonging to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages, it is the traditional prestige variety of the Yue Chinese dialect group, which has about 68 million native speakers.

Chinese Mandarin

How do you say friends in Chinese Mandarin:

• 朋友  Peng You
  — the Chinese word for friend
  pronounced (pong yoh)
• 友谊 Yǒuyì
  — is Chinese for friendship
  

Mandarin Chinese is the official language of Mainland China and Taiwan, and is one of the official languages of Singapore. Mandarin is often placed first in lists of languages by number of native speakers with almost a billion speakers.

Corsican

• amicu

Corsican is a Romance language from the Italo-Dalmatian family that is spoken predominantly on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. Corsican is closely related to Tuscan and to the Florentine-based Italian.

Croatian

• prijatelj
  — is the Croatian word for friend
  
• prijateljstvo
  — friendship in Croatian, pronounced (pre-yah-tell-svo)
  

Croatian or Hrvatski is a South Slavic language spoken mainly in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, some parts of Serbia, and the neighbouring countries by about 5.5 million people.

Czech

• přitelé
  — the word for friend in Czech
  
• přátelství
  — friendship in Czech
  

Czech is a Western Slavic language which is mutually intelligible with Slovak. It is mainly spoken in the Czech Republic with over 10,5 million speakers.

Danish

• ven
  — is the word for friend in Danish
  
• venskab
  — friendship in Danish
  

Danish is a Scandinavian language and the only official language of the Kingdom of Denmark. Closely related to Swedish and Norwegian, it is spoken in Denmark and in some parts of Greenland and northern Germany.

Dhivehi

• rahumaiytheriyaa
  — is the word for friend in Dhivehi
  

Dhivehi or Maldivian is an Indo-Aryan language spoken on the islands of Maldives where it is an official language.

Dogri

• साथन

Dogri is a Northern Indo-Aryan language spoken by around five million people in India, mainly in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir.

Dutch

• vriend
  — the Dutch word meaning friend
  
• vriendje
  — the plural form of friend
  
• vriendschap
  — friendship in Dutch
  

Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by about 27 million people world-wide mostly in the Netherlands and northern Belgium.

Dzongkha

• charo

Dzonkha or Bhutanese is the sole official and national language of the Kingdom of Bhutan. This Sino-Tibetan language is spoken by over half a million people in Bhutan and is written with the Tibetan alphabet.

English

• Friend

English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in Anglo-Saxon England in the early Middle Ages. It is spoken in many countries around the world with over 375 million native speakers. English is the second most spoken language, and the most international language in the world.

Estonian

• sõber
  — is the Estonian word for friend
  
• sõprus
  — friendship in Estonian, pronounced (suh-pruhs)
  

Estonian is a Finno-Ugric language spoken as the official language in Estonia. It is closely related to Finnish.

Faroese

• vinur
  — is the word for best friend in Faroese
  

Faroese is a North Germanic language spoken as a first language by Faroe Islanders, residing on the Faroe Islands and in other areas, mainly Denmark.

Farsi / Persian

• دوست  dost
• رفیق  rafeeq
  — the Persian word meaning friends
  

Persian is an ancient language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. It is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken and used officially within Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.

Fijian

• itau
  — this is the Fijian word for friend
  

Fijian is an Austronesian language of the Malayo-Polynesian family. It is an official language of Fiji spoken by some 350,000–450,000 ethnic Fijians as a native language.

Finnish

• ystävä
  — is the Finnish word for friend, pronounced (oo-stah-vah)
  
• ystävyys
  — Finnish for friendship (oo-stah-voo)
  

Finnish is a Finno-Ugric language spoken only in Finland as the official language and by ethnic Finns elsewhere in Scandinavia.

Flemish

• vriend
  — is the Flemish word for friend
• maat

Flemish is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language, native to the historical region of Flanders in northern Belgium. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch, Belgian Dutch, or Southern Dutch spoken by over 6 million people.

French

• ami
  — is the French masculine word for friend
  pronounced like (ah-me)
• amie
  — feminine form of friend in French
  
• amitié
  — the word for friendship in French, pronounced (ah-me-tee-eh)
  

French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family spoken by over 354 million people in France and around the world. It is the third most spoken language in Europe, the official language of 29 countries, spoken in parts of Africa, North America, and South America.

Frisian

• freon

The Frisian languages are a closely related group of Germanic languages, spoken by about 500,000 Frisian people, who live on the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany.

Galician

• amigo
  

Galician is a Romance language spoken by around 2.4 million people in Galicia, a region in northwestern Spain, where it is the official language.

Georgian

• მეგობარო megobari
• მეგობრობა megobroba
  — friendship in Georgian
  

Georgian is the official language of Georgia and the country’s most widely spoken language with over 4.1 million people.

German

• freund
  — the German noun that translates to friend, masculine form
  
• freundin
  — feminine form of friend in German
  
• freundschaft
  — friendship in German
  

German Deutsch is the official language of both Germany and Austria and one of the three official languages of Switzerland. German belongs to the West Germanic group of the Indo-European language family. One of the major languages of the world, German is a native language to almost 100 million people worldwide and the most widely spoken native language in the European Union.

Gilbertese

• raou

Gilbertese, also called Kiribati, is an Austronesian Oceanic language spoken mainly in Kiribati, but also on the islands of Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

Greek

• φίλος Fílos
  — word for friend in Greek, pronounced (fee-yohs)
  
• filía
  — friendship in Greek

Greek (ελληνικά) belongs to the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Greece and Cyprus an an official language. It has the longest documented history of any living Indo-European language, spanning more than 3000 years of written records. There are about 13.1 million speakers of Greek worldwide and it is recognised as a minority language in Albania, Armenia, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine.

Greenlandic

• ikinngut
  — is the Greenlandic word for friend
  

Greenlandic falls under the Eskimo–Aleut language family, spoken by around 57,000 Greenlandic Inuit people in Greenland.

Gujarati

• મિત્ર mitra
  — is the Gujarati word for friend
  
• મિત્રતા mitratā

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is part of the greater Indo-European language family.

Haitian Creole

Say friends in Creole:

• zanmi
• amitye

Haitian Creole (kreyòl ayisyen)) is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12 million people worldwide and the only language of most Haitians. Along with French it is one of the official languages of Haiti.

Hausa

• aboki
• abota
  — friendship in Hausa
  

Hausa language, the most important indigenous bridge language in West and Central Africa, spoken as a first or second language by about 40–50 million people. It belongs to the Western branch of the Chadic language family within the Afro-Asiatic language phylum. It is spoken mainly in northern Nigeria and Niger, and also in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Congo, Eritrea, Germany, Ghana, Sudan and Togo.

Hawaiian

How to say friend in Hawaiian:

• hoa
• makamaka
• aloha
  — to say friendship use aloha
  

The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaiʻi, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the State of Hawaii and here are the best words about Hawaii to know.

Hebrew

• חבר yadid
  — is the Hebrew word for friend
  
• חֲבֵרוּת
  — friendship in Hebrew
  

Hebrew is a Northwest Semitic language spoken by over nine million people worldwide. Historically, it is regarded as the language of the Israelites and their ancestors. It is written using its own script from right to left.

Hindi

• दोस्त Dosth
• मित्र Mitra
• यार Yaar
  — are the Hindi words for friends
  
• mitratā
  — friendship in Hindi
  

Hindi (हिन्दी) is an Indo-European language spoken in India, Nepal, and throughout the Indian diaspora. Hindi is descended from Sanskrit, sometimes called “the mother of all languages.” While there are 22 official languages and over 1,000 dialects of India, Hindi and English take precedence in government affairs. It is a link-language for over half of India’s population.

Hmong

• phooj ywg
  

Hmong is a Hmong-Mien language spoken by about 2.6 million people in China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, USA, and French Guiana.

Hopi

• wikwawa wikwawa
  

Hopi is a Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Hopi people in northeastern Arizona, USA.

Hungarian

• barát
  — this is the word for friend in Hungarian
  
• barátság
  — friendship in Hungarian
  

Hungarian is a Uralic language of the Ugric branch spoken in Hungary and parts of several neighbouring countries. It is the official language of Hungary and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union.

Icelandic

• vinur
  — is the Icelandic word for friend
  
• vinátu
  — friendship in Icelandic
  

Icelandic (íslenska) is a North Germanic language spoken in Iceland as its official language. It’s most closely related to Faroese and Western Norwegian and has around 314,000 speakers. The language is more conservative than most other Western European languages.

Igbo

• enyi

Igbo is the principal native language of the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria with around 45 million speakers and over 20 dialects.

Indonesian Bahasa

• teman
  — the Indonesian noun for friend
  

Indonesian (bahasa Indonesia) is the official language of Indonesia.With over 230 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It is a group of varieties of Malay, an Austronesian language that has been used as the common language in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries. Indonesia uses the Latin alphabet system and Arabic numerals.

Inuktitut

• piqatialuk
  — is the word for best friend in Inuktitut (pi-qa-TIA-luk)
  

Inuktitut is an Eskimo-Aleut language spoken in Arctic territories and the topmost span of North America including Alaska and Northern Canada.

Irish

• cara
  — this is the all-purpose word for friend n Irish, pronounced (kor-juhs)
• cairdeas
  — friendship in Irish (kor-juhs)
  

Irish (Gaeilge) is one of the three Goidelic languages, along with Scottish Gaelic and Manx. This Goidelic branch together with the Brythonic branch (Welsh, Cornish and Breton) form the Celtic language family.

Italian

How to say friend in Italian:

• amico
  — is the Italian noun for male friend, and it’s pronounced as (ah-ME-co)
  
• amica
  — feminine form of friend in Italian
  
• amicizia
  — the word for friendship in Italian
  

Italian (Italiano) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family spoken by over 90 million people, the vast majority of which are in Italy, Sicily and Sardinia. It is the official language of Italy, San Marino, and the Vatican City.

Japanese

• 友達 tomodachi
  — the word for friend in Japanese, pronounced (to -mo-da-chi)
  written as ともだち or トモダチ
• 友人 yûjin
• 友情 yūjō
  — is how you say friendship in Japanese, pronounced (yoo-joo)
  

Japanese (日本語 Nihongo) is an East Asian language of the Japonic language family. It is spoken by about 125 million people, mostly in Japan, where it is the official and national language.

Jamaican

• friend
  — is a Jamaican saying to express friendship
  

Jamaican Patois, often also referred to as Jamaican Creole, is an English-based creole language with West African influences spoken mainly in Jamaica. Belonging to the English Creole language family, it is spoken by the the majority of Jamaicans with over 3 million native speakers.

Javanese

• kanca
  — is the word for friend in Javanese
  

Javanese is the language of the Javanese people of the island of Java, in Indonesia that is the native language of more than 98 million people.

Kannada

• gelati ಸ್ನೇಹಿತ
  — is the Kannada word for friends
  

Kannada, spoken by nearly 45 million native speakers, is a Dravidian language of the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, and by significant linguistic minorities in the states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala and abroad.

Kazakh

• дос dos
  — friend in Kazakh
  
• достық dostıq

Kazakh is a Turkic language of the Kipchak branch spoken in Central Asia and the official language of Kazakhstan. The language comprises 21 million native speakers including regions of Bayan-Ulgii in Mongolia and the Dzungarian region of Xinjiang, China.

Kikuyu

• mũrata

Kikuyu or Gĩkũyũ is a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo language family that is spoken as a first language by over 6.6 million Agĩkũyũ people in Kenya.

Kinyarwanda

• shuti

Kinyarwanda, an official language of Rwanda, is a Bantu language of the Niger-Congo language family that is spoken by at least 10 million people in Rwanda, DR Congo, and Uganda.

Korean

Friend in Korean:

• 친구 chingu
  — friend in Korean pronounced (chin-goo)
  
• 우정 ujeon
  — friendship in Korean, pronounced (oo-djong)

Korean, an East Asian language, is the official language of South Korea (Republic of Korea) and North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) spoken by more than 75 million people.

Kurdish

• heval

Kurdish is spoken by about 30 million Kurds in western Asia including parts of Kurdistan, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria. It is one of the Indo-Iranian languages, ranks as the third largest Iranian language, after Persian and Pashto.

Kyrgyz

• дос dos
  — friend in Kyrgyz
  
• достук dostuk

Kyrgyz is a member of the Kipchak branch of the Turkic language family spoken by over 4 million speakers mainly in Kyrgyzstan, and also in China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Turkey.

Lao

• ເພື່ອນ pheuon
• ມິດຕະພາບ midtaphab
  — friendship in Lao
  
  

Lao is the main language of Laos. It is a Kra–Dai language serving as a common language among all citizens of Laos, who speak approximately 90 other languages, many of which are unrelated to Lao. Modern Lao is heavily influenced by the Thai language and comprises over 30 million native speakers.

Latin

• amicus
  — is the Latin word for male friend
• amica
  — is the Latin word for female friend
  

Latin was the dominant language of the Roman Empire from 6th century BC to 600 AD. When the Roman Empire collapsed, Latin evolved into the various languages that we know today. Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Romanian all consider Latin as their parent tongue. Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages.

Latvian

• draugs
  — translates as friend in Latvian
  
• draudzība
  — the word for friendship in Latvian
  

Latvian (latviešu valoda) is an Indo-European Eastern Baltic language spoken in the Baltic region. It is the official language of Latvia and one of the official languages of the European Union.

Lebanese

• sahbe
  — is the Lebanese word for friend
  
• rfiki

Lebanese is a variety of North Levantine Arabic, indigenous to and spoken primarily in Lebanon. With significant linguistic influences borrowed from other Middle Eastern and European languages it is spoken by over 5,7 million native speakers.

Limburgish

• vriend

Limburgish is a member of the East Low Franconian group of the Germanic languages considered a variety of German or Dutch by many people. It is spoken by around 1.6 million people in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Lingala

• moninga

Lingala is a Bantu language spoken throughout the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a large part of the Republic of the Congo by over 70 million people.

Lithuanian

• draugas
  — is the word for friend in Lithuanian
  
• draugystė
  — friendship in Lithuanian
  

Lithuanian (lietuvių kalba) is an Eastern Baltic language spoken in the Baltic region as the official language of Lithuania. It is also one of the official languages of the European Union spoken by just under 3 million native speakers. The language is one of the oldest in the world.

Luxembourgish

• Frënd

Luxembourgish is a West Germanic language that is spoken mainly in Luxembourg. About 390,000 people speak Luxembourgish worldwide.

Luganda

• mukwano
  — friend in Luganda, (moo-kwa-no)
  
  

Luganda, a Bantu language, is an official language of Uganda along with English and Swahili. It is spoken primarily in Kampala, but may be understood in much of the country and in the African Great Lakes region.

Macedonian

• пријател prijatel
• пријателство prijatelstvo
  — friendship in Macedonian
  
  

Macedonian, the official language of the Republic of North Macedonia, is a south Slavic language spoken as a first language by 2 million people.

Malagasy

• namana
  — friend and friendship in Malagasy
  

Malagasy is the national language of Madagascar belonging to the Austronesian Malayo-Polynesia family of languages spoken by 25 million people.

Malay

• kawan
  — is the Malay word for friend
  
• persahabatan
  — friendship in Malay
  

Malay (Bahasa Melayu) is an Austronesian language spoken as the sole official language of Malaysia and Brunei. It is also heard in Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand at a total of 250 – 300 million speakers.

Malayalam

• സുഹൃത്ത് suhr̥tt
  — is the word for friends in Malayalam (su-hu-ru-tth)
• സൗഹൃദം sahr̥daṁ
  — friendship in Malayalam
  

Malayalam (മലയാളം) belongs to the Dravidian language family, spoken mostly in the Southern Indian states of Kerala and Lakshadweep. Around 36 million people use this language, which is one of the 22 official languages of India.

Maltese

• habib
  — is how you say friend in Maltese
  

Maltese, a language of central Semitic origin written in the Latin script, is the national language of Malta. It is spoken by around 420,000 people on the Mediterranean islands of Malta, Gozo and Comino. The Maltese language developed from Sicilian Arabic, Over the centuries, it has incorporated many words derived from English, Italian and French.

Māori

• hoa
  — friend in Māori

Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of New Zealand. it has also gained recognition as one of New Zealand’s official languages.

Marathi

• मित्र mitra
• मैत्री maitrī

Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by around 83.1 million Marathi people of Maharashtra, India. It is the official language and co-official language in the Maharashtra and Goa states of Western India, respectively, and is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India.

Marshallese

• motta
  — is the Marshallese word for friend
  

Marshallese, also known as Ebon, is a Micronesian language spoken in the Marshall Islands by about 44,000 people. It is an official language of the Marshall Islands, along with English, and is used as the language of instruction in most primary schools.

Mongolian

• найз naiz
  — the word for friend in Mongolian
  
• нөхөрлөл nökhörlöl
  — friendship in Mogolian
  
  

Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia and both the most widely-spoken and best-known member of the Mongolic language family. It is an Altaic language spoken by approximately 5 million people in Mongolia, China, Afghanistan and Russia.

Moroccan Arabic

• صاحب saheb
  — male friend
  
  
• صاحبة sabha
  — female friend
  

Moroccan Arabic, also known as Darija, is a form of vernacular Arabic spoken in Morocco. It is part of the Maghrebi Arabic dialect continuum, with over 30 million native speakers.

Nahuatl

• cnīuh

Nahuatl is a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It was the language of the Aztecs and the Toltecs. Variations of Nahuatl are spoken by around 1.7 million Nahua people of Central Mexico and the USA and Nahuatl remains the most widely-spoken group of Native American languages in North America.

Nauruan

• dañan

Nauruan is an Austronesian language, spoken natively on the island country of Nauru by around 6,000 people.

Navajo

• shik’is
  — is the general Navajo word for friends
• alah
  — friend of the opposite gender
  
• akis
  — friend of the same gender
  

Navajo is an American Indian language of the Athabascan family, spoken by around 170, 000 Navajo people in the Southwestern United States regions of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado.

Ndebele

• umngane
  — is the Ndebele word for friend
  

Ndebele, an African language of the Nguni group of Bantu languages, is spoken by around 5 million Northern Ndebele people of Zimbabwe.

Nepali

• साथी mitra
  — is the Nepali word for friend
  
• मित्रता mitratā
  — friendship in Nepali
  

Nepali (नेपाली), is an Indo-Aryan language of the sub-branch of Eastern Pahari written in Devanagari script It is the sole official language of Nepal and one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. While most Nepalese people speak at least some Nepali, there are more than 100 different languages and dialects spoken in Nepal.

Neapolitan

Friend in Neapolitan

• amico

Neapolitan is a Romance language of the Italo-Dalmatian group spoken across much of southern Italy by 6 million people. It is related to but generally not mutually intelligible with Italian.

Northern Sotho / Sepedi

• mogwera

Northern Sotho is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa, where it is one of the 11 official languages. It is spoken by about 4.2 million people in the South African provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.

Norwegian

The word for friend in Norwegian:

• venn
• vennskap
  — friendship in Norwegian
  

Norwegian (norsk) is a Germanic language derived from Old Norse spoken primarily in Norway by over 5 million people where it is the official language.

Odia

• इआर

Odia is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian state of Odisha where it is the official language.

Oromo

• fira-i
  

Oromo is a Cushitic language spoken by about 30 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Egypt. It is the third largest language in Africa.

Papiamento

Friednship in Papiamento:

• amigu
  — male friend
  
• amiga
  — female friend
  

Papiamento is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean by less than 500,00 native speakers. It is the most-widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands, having official status in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.

Pashto

• ملګرې malgarey
• دوست  dost
  — means friends in Pashto
  

Pashto is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European family spoken in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. It is an official language of Afghanistan along with Dari.

Polish

Say the word friend in Polish:

• przyjaciel
  — male friend in Polish
  
• przyjaciółka
  — female friend in Polish
• przyjaźń
  — friendship in Polish, pronounced (pshey-ah-szuhn)
  

Polish (polski) is a West Slavic language spoken by about 45 million people. Said to be one of the hardest languages to learn, it is the official language of Poland. It is understood and can be used for communication in the western parts of Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania.

Portuguese

• amigo
  — the Portuguese masculine noun for friend. The pronunciation is (ah-me-go)
• amiga
  — feminine form of friend in Portuguese
  
• amigos
  — the plural form of friend in Portuguese
  
• amizade
  — friendship in Portuguese, pronounced (ah-mih-zah-dje)
  

Portuguese (português) is a Romance language spoken as the official language of Portugal and Brazil. It is also the official language of Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé e Principe, Angola, Mozambique, and the co-official language of East Timor, and Macau. There are around 200 million native Portuguese speakers.

Punjabi

• ਮਿਤ੍ਰ mitra
• ਦੋਸਤ dost
  — the Punjabi word for friend
  
• dōsatī
  — friendship in punjabi
  
  

Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language with more than 130 million native speakers in the Indian subcontinent and around the world. It is the 10th most spoken language in the world.

Romanian

• prieten
  — the Romanian word for friend
  
• prietenie
  — friendship in Romanian, pronounced (pree-eh-tehn-ee-ey)
  

Romanian (limba română) is a Balkan Romance language spoken by approximately 24–26 million people as a native language, primarily in Romania and Moldova, and by another 4 million people as a second language. Although it descended from Vulgar Latin, Romanian was influenced by Slavic and Greek languages in the Middle Ages. It is an official and national language of both Romania and Moldova.

Russian

• друг droog
  — the Russian noun for friend, masculine form
  
• padrooga подруга
  — a female friend in Russian
  
• prijátel
  — you could also use this as friend in Russian
  
• druzhba Дружба
  — friendship in Russian
  

Russian is an East Slavic language spoken by 300+ million people worldwide. It is  is an official language in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and many other people in Central Asia, the Baltic states, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe know it as a second language. Commonly written in Cyrillic, it is the 8th most widely spoken language in the world.

Samoan

• uo
  — a commonly used word for friend in Samoan
  
• faigauo

Samoan is the official language spoken in the Samoan Islands, which is made up of the Independent State of Samoa and the American Samoa. The language is the most spoken of the Polynesian language family with a total of 510,000 speakers worldwide.

Sanskrit

• mitra
  — a commonly used word for friend in Sanskrit
  

Sanskrit is a 4,000-year-old classical language that belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. Known as ‘the mother of all languages,’ Sanskrit is the root of many, but not all, Indian languages. It is also the liturgical language of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. Sanskrit has less than 15,000 native speakers at present and is mostly used by Hindu priests during religious ceremonies.

Sardinian

• amico
  — a commonly used word for friend in Sardinian
  

Sardinian or Sard is a Romance language spoken by over 1.5 million inhabitants of the Mediterranean island of Sardinia in Italy.

Scottish Gaelic

• caraid

Scots Gaelic is a Goidelic language of the Celtic and Indo-European language family, native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish.

Serbian

• пријатељу prijatelj
• пријатељство prijateljstvo
  — friendship in Serbian
  

Serbian is a South Slavic language spoken mainly in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and Macedonia by about 9 million people. Serbian is the official and main language of Serbia and Montenegro.

Sesotho

• motswalle

Sesotho (Sotho) is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho-Tswana group, spoken primarily by the Basotho in Lesotho, where it is the national and official language, South Africa, where it is one of the 11 official languages and in Zimbabwe where it is one of 16 official languages.

Shona

• shamwari

Shona, one of the most widely spoken Bantu languages, is the main language in Zimbabwe.

Sicilian

• amicu

Sicilian is a Romance language spoken by more than 4 million speakers on the island of Sicily in Italy.

Sindhi

• دوست
  

Sindhi, an Indo-Aryan language, is the official language of the Pakistani province of Sindh and spoken by over 25 million Sindhi people.

Sinhala

• මිතුරා miturā
  — friend in Sinhala
  
• මිත්රත්වය mitratvaya
  — friendship in Sinhala
  

Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by approximately 16 million Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka and is one of two official languages of Sri Lanka.

Slovak

• priateľ
  — translates to friend in Slovak
  
• priateľstvo
  — friendship in Slovak
  

Slovak, the official language of Slovakia, is a West Slavic language where it is spoken by approximately 5.6 million people.

Slovenian

• prijatelj
  — is the Slovenian word for friend
  
• prijateljstvo
  — friendship in Slovenian
  

Slovenian, an Indo-European language of the South Slavic language branch is the official and national language of Slovenia spoken by less than 3 million people.

Somali

• saaxiib

Somali, an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by over 16 million people, is an official language of Somalia, a national language in Djibouti, and a working language in the Somali Region of Ethiopia.

Spanish

A number of different words in Spanish are used to express the concept of friendship including:

• amigo
  — a general term to use when you are referring to a friend in Spanish
• amiga
  — feminine form of friend in Spanish
  
• amistad
  — the word for friendship in Spanish
  

Spanish is the second most widely used language in the world natively spoken by more than 437 million people including Spain, most of Central and South America, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and the USA. There are over 21 countries in the world that have Spanish as their official language. It is a Romance language that originated in the Iberian Peninsula.

Sundanese

• réréncangan

Sundanese is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by about 39 million people mainly in western Java in Indonesia. There are also speakers in Banten, Jakarta, parts of western Central Java and southern Lampung. It is the third most-spoken language in Indonesia.

Swahili

• rafiki
  — is the Swahili word for friend
  
• urafiki
  — friendship in Swahili
  
  

Swahili is a Bantu languages spoken by the Swahili communities in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Swati

• umngane
  

Swati is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Eswatini and South Africa by the Swazi people. It is the official language of Swaziland (along with English) and since 1994 one of the nine indigenous languages to enjoy official recognition in South Africa. The number of speakers is estimated to be in the region of 2.4 million.

Swedish

• vän
• vännen
  — the Swedish word for friend
  
• vänskap
  — friendship in Swedish, pronounced (vahn-skopp)
  

Swedish is a North Germanic language, closely related to Norwegian and Danish spoken by around 10 million people. A descendant of Old Norse, it is the national language of Sweden and the official language of the Åland Islands.

Swiss German

• fründ
  — the Swiss German word for boyfriend or male friend
  
• fründin
  — the Swiss German word for girlfriend or female friend
  

Swiss German (Schweizerdeutsch) is the collective name for the great variety of Upper German dialects spoken in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg, in parts of Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Alsace in France.

Tagalog Filipino

• kaibigan
  — friend in filipino
• pagkakaibigan
  — friendship, pronounced as (pah-GEE-big)
  

Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a quarter of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by the majority. Its standardized form, officially named Filipino, is the national language of the Philippines, and is one of two official languages alongside English.

Tahitian

• hoa
  — is the Tahitian word for friend

Tahitian belongs to the Eastern Polynesian language group, spoken mainly on the Society Islands in French Polynesia and Bora Bora.

Tajik

• дуст doost
  — friend in Tajik
  
• дӯстӣ dūstī

Tajik is the main language of Tajikistan, closely related to Farsi and Kurdish. Since the late 1930s, it is written using a variant of the Cyrillic script.

Tamil

• நண்பன் nanban
  — the general term for friend in Tamil (nan-pan)
  

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken in southern India, Sri Lanka and Singapore by about 67.5 million people. It can also be heard in Mauritius and Malaysia.

Tarifit

• amidi

Tarifit or Tarifit Berber is spoken by around 4 million speakers in Arrif (Northern Africa) and Europe.

Tatar

• дус
  — friend in Tatar
  
• дуслык

Tatar (татарча), the national language of the Tatars, is a Turkic language spoken mainly in the Russian republic of Tatarstan as well as Siberia by about 7 million people in Central Asia. It refers to the Volga-Kipchak Kipchak subgroup of the Turkic group of languages. 

Telugu

• స్నేహితుడు Snehithu
  — is the Telugu word meaning friend
  

Telugu is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and the union territories of Puducherry by 75 million Telugu people.

Tetum

• belu or belo
  — is the Tetum word meaning friend
  

Tetum is an official language of Timor-Leste belonging to the Austronesian language family and spoken by just under 400,000 people.

Thai

How to say friends in Thai:

• เพื่อน Pheụ̄̀xn
  — is the Thai noun for friend
  
• มิตรภาพ Mitrp̣hāph
  — Thai word for friendship

Thai ภาษาไทย, the sole official and national language of Thailand, spoken by 50 million people, belongs to the Tai group of the Kra–Dai language family of Southeast Asia.

Tibetan

• mdza’ bshes (མཛའ་བཤེས)
  — This is the Tibetan word for friend
• grogs po (གྲོགས་པོ)
  — can also be used
  
  

Tibetan is an official language of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. The Tibetic languages are a cluster of Tibeto-Burman languages descended from Old Tibetan, spoken across a wide area of eastern Central Asia bordering the Indian subcontinent, including the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas.

Tok Pisin

• wantok
  — This is the Tok Pisin word for friend
  

Tok Pisin, more commonly known as New Guinea Pidgin, is a creole language spoken throughout Papua New Guinea, where it is an official language. It is the most widely used language in the country, spoken by around 120,000 people.

Tongan

• kaungame’a
  — This is the Tongan word for friend
  

Tongan is an Austronesian language of the Polynesian branch mainly spoken in Tonga, where it is the official language.

Tsalagi Cherokee

• unalii
  — friend pronounced (oo-nah-lee-ee)
  
• olii
  — friendship in Cherokee
  

Cherokee (Tsalagi) belongs to the Iroquoian language family. The Cherokee language is unique among Native American languages in that it is both a written and spoken language.

Tshivenda

• thama

Tshivenda is a language spoken by the Venda people of South Africa

Tsonga

• munghana

Tsonga is a Bantu language spoken by the Tsonga people totalling 12 million people mainly in South Africa, but also Mozambique and Eswatini.

Tswana

• mmata

Tswana is a Bantu language spoken by about 4.4 million people in Bostwana, where it is the national and majority language, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The majority of speakers, about 3.6 million, live in South Africa, where the language is officially recognised.

Turkish

• arkadaş
  — the Turkish word for friend.
  
• dostluk or arkadaşlık
  — friendship in Turkish
  
  

Turkish is a Turkic language believed to be of the Altaic language family spoken mainly in Turkey, Northern Cyprus, Cyprus and other countries of the former Ottoman Empire by about 88 million people.

Turkmen

• dost
  — friend in Turkmen
  
• dostluk

Turkmen belongs to the Turkic language family and is spoken by around 11 million Turkmen people of Central Asia, mainly in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.

Tuvaluan

• taugasoa
  — the Tuvaluan word for friend
  

Tuvaluan is a Polynesian language that is native to Tuvalu, Fiji, Kiribati, and Nauru.

Ukrainian

• друг druh
  — the Ukrainian word for friend
  
• druzhba
  — friendship in Ukrainian
  

Ukrainian is an Eastern Slavic language spoken mainly in Ukraine by about 51 million people.

Urdu

• دوست dost
  — friend in Urdu
  
• یار yaar
• دوستی
  — friendship in Urdu
  
  

Urdu is the official national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is a member of the Indo-Aryan group within the Indo-European family of languages and is mutually intelligible with Hindi.

Uyghur

• دوستى
  — friend in Uyghur
  
• دوستلۇق

Uyghur is a Turkic language of the Karluk branch written in a Uyghur Perso-Arabic script. It is spoken primarily by 10 million Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.

Uzbek

• do’stim
• do’stlik
  — friendship in Uzbek
  

Uzbek is a Turkic language that is the official national language of Uzbekistan spoken by around 27 million people.

Vietnamese

How to express friendship in Vietnamese:

• bạn
• người bạn
  — the word for friend in Vietnamese
  
• hữu nghị
  — friendship in Vietnamese, (hee-uhn-gyee)
  

Vietnamese is an Austroasiatic language spoken mainly in Vietnam, where it is the national and official language, by about 82 million people.

Welsh

• ffrind
  — how to say friend in Welsh
  
• cyfeillgarwch
  — friendship in Welsh
  

Welsh is a Brittonic language of the Celtic language family spoken natively in Wales, and by some in England.

Woiwurrung

• bunji

Woiwurrung or Woiworung is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Kulin Nation of Central Victoria.

Wolof

• xharit
  — friend in Wolof, pronounced (hair-reet)
  

Wolof is a national language of Senegal, where it is spoken by approximately 5.4 million people as a first language. It belongs to the Atlantic group of the Niger-Congo language family and is the native language of the Wolof people.

Xhosa

• umhlobo
  — is the Xhosa word for friend
  
• ubuhlobo
  — friendship in Xhosa
  

Xhosa is a Nguni Bantu language with click consonants and is one of the official languages of South Africa. It is spoken as a first language by approximately 8.2 million people and by another 11 million as a second language in South Africa, mostly in Eastern Cape Province.

Yiddish

• פרייַנד fraynd
• פרייַנדשאַפט frayndshaft
  — friendship in Yiddish
  

Yiddish is the historical language of the Ashkenazi Jews originating during the 9th century in Central Europe. Belonging to the Indo-European language family, it is spoken by 1.5 million people.

Yoruba

• ọ̀rẹ́
  — friend and friendship in Yoruba
  

Yoruba is a pluricentric language spoken in West Africa with the number of speakers estimated between 30 and 40 million. It is a language spoken principally in Nigeria and Benin, with communities in Sierra Leone, Liberia, other parts of Africa.

Zulu

• umngani
  — is the word for friend in Zulu
  
• ubungane
  — friendship in Zulu
  
  

Zulu is a member of the Bantu/Nguni family of languages. It is one of the official languages of South Africa spoken by about 10 million people mainly in Zululand and northern Natal in South Africa and also in Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Eswatini.

FRIENDSHIP in Different Languages — BONUS

–> Here a couple final ways on how to say friend in different languages

American Sign Language (ASL)

How to sign friend in American Sign Language:

• Hold out both of your index fingers hooked in a curved or ‘C’-like shape, while the rest of your fingers are folded into each palm.
  
  Hold one hand with your hook index facing up, and hook the second index into the first. Then reverse the position for the hands and do it again. 

American Sign Language is a complete, natural language that has the same linguistic properties as spoken languages, with grammar that differs from English, expressed by movements of the hands and face.

British Sign Language (BSL)

How to sign friend in British Sign Language:

• The primary hand holds the secondary hand.
  This is followed by the hands making a small up and down movement in front of the body.

British Sign Language is a sign language used in the United Kingdom as the first or preferred language of some deaf people. The language makes use of space and involves movement of the hands, body, face, and head.

Dothraki

• okeo
  — How to say friend in Dothraki
  

Dothraki is a constructed fictional language spoken by the Dothraki, a nomadic people in the fictional world of George Martin’s fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire and its television adaptation the Game of Thrones.

Elvish Sindarin

• mellon
  — How to say friend in Elvish, masculine
• melleth
  — feminine form of friend in Sindarin
  
  

Elvish Sindarin is one of the fictional languages created by J. R. R. Tolkien for use in his fantasy stories set in Arda, primarily in Middle-earth. Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the Elves, called the Eledhrim or Edhellim in Sindarin.

Espetanto

• amiko

Esperanto is an artificially constructed language and belongs to no linguistic family, with most of its vocabulary coming from the Romance languages. This phonetic language is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language.

Klingon

• jup
  — this is the word for friend in Klingon
  

Klingon is a language that was made for the Klingons in the Star Trek movie. It is a constructed language, and not one that developed naturally. Only a few people can speak the Klingon language well enough to talk in it.

Minionese

• migo

Minionese spoken by the minions of the Despicable Me movie series appears to be a polyglot language which borrows words and grammatical rules from many different languages.

Na’vi

• ‘eylan
  

Na’vi is a constructed language, created for the fictional Na’vi, the humanoid inhabitants of the moon Pandora in the 2009 film Avatar.

Quenya

• meldo
  — masculine form for friend in Quenya
  
• melde
  — feminine friend in Quenya
  

Quenya is one of the fictional languages devised by J. R. R. Tolkien and used by the immortal Elves in the Lord of the Rings and as inspiration for countless travel quotes. Tolkien began devising the language around 1910 and restructured the grammar several times until Quenya reached its final state. The vocabulary remained relatively stable throughout the creation process.

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LEARN THESE WORDS IN OTHER LANGUAGES TOO!

MY LOVE: LOVE in different languages

THANK YOU: thanks in every language of the world

HELLO: hi in every language of the world

GOOD MORNING: morning in different languages

GOOD NIGHT: night in different languages

GOOD BYE: Bye in different languages

CHEERS: Cheers in all languages

BEAUTIFUL: You are beautiful in all languages

`Your friendly amigo,

Rai