English Explanatory Dictionary

false friend

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A word in a language that bears a deceptive resemblance to a word in another language but in fact has a different meaning.
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see false, friend.

Pronunciation

/ˌfɒls ˈfɹɛnd/ /ˌfɔːls ˈfɹɛnd/ /ˌfɔls ˈfɹɛnd/ /ˌfɑls ˈfɹɛnd/ en-us-false friend.ogg en-au-false friend.ogg

Word forms

false friend false friends

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).

Synonyms

faux ami false cousin

Related words

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