buddy

See also: Buddy

English

Etymology

1802, colloquial butty (“companion”), also the form of an older dialect term meaning workmate, associated with coal mining. Itself believed derived from 1530 as booty fellow, a partner with whom one shares booty or loot.

Sometimes referred to in North American dictionaries as an alteration of brother.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʌd.i/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌdi

Noun

buddy (plural buddies)

1. A friend or casual acquaintance.

   They have been buddies since they were in school.

2. A partner for a particular activity.

   drinking buddies

3. An informal and friendly address to a stranger; a friendly placeholder name for a person one does not know.

   Hey, buddy, I think you dropped this.

Synonyms

• (friend or acquaintance): mate
• (address to a stranger): mate

• See also Thesaurus:friend

Derived terms

Derived terms

• bud
• Buddyroll
• buddy store

• buddy system
• buddy up
• fuck buddy

Translations

friend or casual acquaintance

• Catalan: company (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 哥兒 (zh), 哥儿 (zh) (gēr), 伙伴 (zh) (huǒbàn)

• Dutch: maat (nl) m, maatje (nl) n
• Finnish: kaveri (fi), toveri (fi), tuttava (fi),kaverus
• French: compagnon (fr) m, pote (fr) m, copain (fr) m
• German: Kumpel (de) m
• Hungarian: haver (hu)
• Indonesian: sobat (id)
• Italian: amico (it) m

• Japanese: 仲間 (ja) (なかま, nakama), 相棒 (ja) (あいぼう, aibō)
• Khmer: សំលាញ់ (sɑmlienh)
• Persian: رفیق‎‎ (fa) (rafiq)
• Polish: kumpel (pl) m
• Portuguese: companheiro (pt) m
• Russian: дружо́к (ru) m (družók), прия́тель (ru) m (prijátelʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: друшкан m, druškan (sh) m
• Spanish: compañero (es) m, acompañante (es) m, f, camarada (es) m, f, cuate (es) m
• Swedish: kompis (sv) c, polare (sv) c
• Turkish: ahbap (tr)

partner for a particular activity

• Finnish: kaveri (fi), toveri (fi)
• French: copain (fr) m, pote (fr) m, f
• German: Kollege (de) m
• Italian: compagno (it) m, amico (it) m
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 友達 (ja) (ともだち, tomodachi)

• Khmer: សំលាញ់ (sɑmlienh)
• Polish: kolega (pl) m
• Portuguese: colega (pt) m, f
• Spanish: colega (es) m, f, compinche (es) m, f

informal address to a stranger

• Armenian: ախպեր (hy) (axper), ապեր (hy) (aper)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 老表 (zh) (lǎobiǎo), 老兄 (zh) (lǎoxiōng)

• Dutch: maat (nl) m, kerel (nl) m, vriend (nl) m
• Finnish: kaveri (fi)
• French: camarade (fr) m, mec (fr) m
• German: Kumpel (de) m

• Italian: capo (it) m
• Polish: kolega (pl) m, koleś (pl) m
• Portuguese: parceiro (pt) m
• Russian: прия́тель (ru) m (prijátelʹ), дружи́ще (ru) m (družíšče), друг (ru) m (drug)
• Serbo-Croatian: друшкан m, druškan (sh) m
• Spanish: colega (es) m, f

Verb

buddy (third-person singular simple present buddies, present participle buddying, simple past and past participle buddied)

1. To assign a buddy, or partner.
   • 2007, Philip Briggs & Danny Edmunds, Mozambique: The Bradt Travel Guide‎^[1], →ISBN, page 86:

     If you are being formally buddied, have a good chat with your buddy and find out their interests -- these should more or less match your own.