"The word 'friend' is of Germanic origin, and existed in Old English as ‘frēond’ which was the present participle of the verb frēon, ‘to love’. The root of the verb was ‘frī-’ which meant ‘to like, love, or be affectionate to’. We can still see the remnants of this verb every day of the week- Friday or ‘day of Frigg’ is devoted to the Germanic goddess of love Frigg."

The Copy Team etymology series: https://thecopy.team/blog/origin-word-friend-copy-team-etymology-series/