a friend in need is a friend indeed
/ə ˌfɹɛnd ən ˈnid ɪz ə ˌfɹɛnd ɪnˈdid/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.58 in modern English
39
Scrabble Score
28
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
proverb
If a friend helps one when one is in need, that person is a true friend.
Example Sentences
- "A friend in need is a friend indeed, Een vrient in noot / is een vrient in der daet."
- "Every one is a kinſman to him that is proſperous, but a friend in need is a friend indeed."
- "It is a true ſaying, my Ingenio, that a Friend in need, is a Friend indeed, as I doubt not but you will be fully apprized, upon peruſal of what I here ſend you."
- "A friend in need is a friend indeed, ſay I;—but you can't judge of it.—No,—unleſs you had the rope about your neck, and were walking all alive to your grave."
- "The gentlemen on the other side of the House have been peculiarly called the friends of the people; remember a friend in need is a friend indeed. Is there, then, no some one who will step out from among them to save this tottering branch of our Government from falling!"
- "Friends should be ready to assist each other. Kind offices ought never to be omitted, but they are especially called for in seasons of affliction. "A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." "A friend in need is a friend indeed.""
Etymology
The idea that false friends will abandon a person in times of adversity while true friends will reveal themselves and provide help is ancient: the Greek playwright Euripides (c. 480 – c. 406 BC) wrote in Hecuba (424 BC), ἐν τοῖς κακοῖς γὰρ ἁγαθοὶ σαφέστατοι φίλοι: τὰ χρηστὰ δ’ αὔθ’ ἕκαστ’ ἔχει φίλους (en toîs kakoîs gàr hagathoì saphéstatoi phíloi: tà khrēstà d’ aúth’ hékast’ ékhei phílous, “it is in trouble’s hour that the good most clearly show their friendship; though prosperity by itself in every case finds friends”), and the Roman poet Ennius (c. 239 – c. 169 BC) observed in his Tragedies that amicus certus in re incerta cernitur (“a sure friend is known in unsure times”).
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ə ˌfɹɛnd ən ˈnid ɪz ə ˌfɹɛnd ɪnˈdid/
- British English: /ə ˌfɹɛnd ɪn ˈniːd ɪz ə ˌfɹɛnd ɪnˈdiːd/