Dictionary

false friend en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• audio Queensland
• /ˌfoːls ˈfɹend/ (Australia, New-Zealand)
• /ˌfɒls ˈfɹɛnd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌfɑls ˈfɹɛnd/ (Atlantic-Canada, General-American, cot-caught-merger)
• (US) audio
• /ˌfɔːls ˈfɹɛnd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌfɔls ˈfɹɛnd/ (General-American) without the cot–caught merger

Etymology

Calque of French faux-ami, from the longer phrase faux amis du traducteur (“false friends of a translator”), first used by Maxime Kœssler and Jules Derocquigny in 1928 in their book Les Faux Amis ou les trahisons du vocabulaire anglais (False Friends, or the Pitfalls of the English Vocabulary).

Meanings

1. A word in a language that bears a deceptive resemblance to a word in another language but in fact has a different meaning.
   • A word and its false friend may well be etymologically related: in such cases semantic shifts have made them drift apart.
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see false, friend.

Forms

Coordinates

true friend

Descendants

伪友 · 假友 · 假朋友 · 偽友

Hyponyms

partial false friend

Relateds

lists of false friends in various languages · cognate · misnomer and phantonym · false cognate

Synonyms

false cousin · faux ami

Translations (68)

hu hamis barát (type of word) · ro prieten fals (type of word) · ar شِبْه نَظِير (type of word) · es heterosemántico (type of word) · de Übersetzungsfalle (type of word) · cmn 假友 (type of word) · ko 거짓 친구 (type of word) · mk лажен пријател (type of word) · th เพื่อนเท็จ (type of word) · la falsus amicus (type of word) · it falso amico (type of word) · cmn 偽友 /伪友 (type of word) · hy սուտ բարեկամ (type of word) · el ψευδόφιλος (type of word) · es falso amigo (type of word) · uk хи́бний друг (type of word) · sh лажни пријатељ (type of word) · be памылко́вы ся́бар (type of word) · sv falsk vän (type of word) · ka ცრუ მეგობარი (type of word) · cs falešný přítel (type of word) · ko 거짓짝 (type of word) · ga cara bréige (type of word) · fa-ira واژِهٔ فَریبْکار (type of word) · ia false amico (type of word) · ru ло́жный друг (type of word) · sq miku i rremë (type of word) · cmn 假等義 /假等义 (type of word) · nn falsk venn (type of word) · de falscher Freund (type of word) · cmn 同形异义词 (type of word) · nb falsk venn (type of word) · ja 空似言葉 (type of word) · is svikatengsl (type of word) · is falsvinur (type of word) · da falsk ven (type of word) · pt heterossemântico (type of word) · nn falsk ven (type of word) · lt netikras draugas (type of word) · tr sahte arkadaş (type of word) · pl fałszywy przyjaciel (type of word) · eo falsa amiko (type of word) · gl falso amigo (type of word) · ca fals amic (type of word) · nl valse vriend (type of word) · uk фальши́вий друг (type of word) · pt falso amigo (type of word) · ur جُھوٹا دوسْت (type of word) · id teman palsu (type of word) · cy cyfaill gau (type of word) · hi झूठा दोस्त (type of word) · sk falošný priateľ (type of word) · fr faux-ami (type of word) · th เพื่อนเทียม (type of word) · lv viltusdraugs (type of word) · pl fałszywy przyjaciel tłumacza (type of word) · fi riskisana (type of word) · cy gau-gyfaill (type of word) · et virvasõna (type of word) · uz tarjimonning soxta doʻst (type of word) · hu álbarát (type of word) · cmn 假朋友 (type of word) · bg фалши́в прия́тел (type of word) · be фальшы́вы ся́бар (type of word) · tr yanlış arkadaşı (type of word) · sl lažni prijatelj (type of word) · sh lažni prijatelj (type of word) · ja 偽りの友 (type of word)