buddy

buddy

See also: Buddy

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʌd.i/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌdi

Etymology 1

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.[1] Alternatively, an alteration of brother.[2][3]

Noun

buddy (plural buddies)

1. A friend or casual acquaintance.

   Synonyms: bud, mate; see also Thesaurus:friend

   They have been buddies since they were in school.

   • 1951, J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye, Little, Brown and Company, OCLC 287628, page 23:

     He told us we ought to think of Jesus as our buddy and all. He said he talked to Jesus all the time. Even when he was driving his car. That killed me.

2. A partner for a particular activity.

   Synonyms: companion, partner

   drinking buddies

3. An informal and friendly address to a stranger; a friendly (or occasionally antagonistic) placeholder name for a person one does not know.

   Synonyms: mate, fellow

   Hey, buddy, I think you dropped this.

Pronoun

buddy

1. (In Maritime English) A person far removed from the conversation.

   I found some earphones in the pocket, buddy must have been pissed.

   Buddy's loaded. 'Got like three houses.

Derived terms

• battle buddy
• blow-buddy
• blow buddy
• bosom buddy
• bud
• buddy bench
• buddy block
• buddy booth
• buddy boy
• buddy breathe
• buddy-buddy
• buddy film
• buddyhood
• buddy list
• buddy memory allocation
• buddy movie
• buddy pack
• buddy parent
• buddy parenting
• buddy pod
• Buddyroll
• buddyroo
• buddyslash
• buddy store
• buddy system
• buddy taping
• buddy up
• buddy wrapping
• bus buddy
• butt buddy
• cuddle buddy
• cut buddy
• e-buddy
• fuck buddy
• quit buddy
• study buddy

 

Translations

friend or casual acquaintance

Catalan: company (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 哥兒／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) Louisiana Creole French: boug, nèg, padna, djæk, vye Persian: رفیق‎ (fa) (rafiq) Plautdietsch: Schlockat m 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 or f, camarada (es) m or 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 or f German: Kollege (de) m Hungarian: cimbora (hu), pajtás (hu) 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 or f Russian: коллега (ru) m or f (kollega) Spanish: colega (es) m or f, compinche (es) m or 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, morda (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 or f, amigo (es) m, amiga (es) f Swedish: grabben (sv) c (definite form), vännen (sv) c (definite form)

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To assign a buddy, or partner, to.
   • 2007, Philip Briggs & Danny Edmunds, Mozambique: The Bradt Travel Guide‎, →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.

Etymology 2

From Middle English buddy, buddi, equivalent to bud +‎ -y.

Adjective

buddy (comparative more buddy, superlative most buddy)

1. Resembling a bud.
   • 1963, John Herbert Goddard, Chrysanthemum Growers' Treasury (page 18)

     Some of the dwarfer varieties are full of buddy growths in the early stages and these must be cut down and thrown away.

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “buddy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary, retrieved November 2008.
2. “buddy”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
3. “buddy”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary