Friend in Chinese / Japanese...

友達 is the most common way to say "friend" in Japanese.

友 is the simplest way to express the idea of friends or friendship in Chinese.

It can mean friend, companion, or pal in Japanese. In Korean, it can mean friend, companion, or associate.

This single character is open to interpretation, so it can mean different things to different people (not necessarily a bad thing, as you can decide what it means to you). If you want a more concisely-defined word, you should probably pick one of our multi-character friendship-related words.

This one way to say best friend in Chinese.

The first character can mean "honest" or "most sincere." The second character means "friend" or "friends" (plural forms work differently in Chinese).

See Also:  Soulmates

Depending on context, 教友 can mean Christian or "friend of the same religion."

While technically it could be any religion, this is used mostly within the Christian faith. You can also translate this as "Christian friend" and in some cases "Church member."

This one way to say best friend in Chinese.

The first character can mean "most," "extreme" or "best."
The second character means "friend" or "friends" (plural forms work differently in China).

Can also be translated as "close friend" or "most intimate friend."

See Also:  Soulmates

真の友 is "true friend" in Japanese.

夠朋友 is a colloquial title in Chinese meaning, "to be a true friend."

朋 is a simple way to say friend, companion, comrade, or pal in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, or old Korean Hanja.

朋 is a very short form, so a longer two-character word for friendship might be better.

Note: In Japanese, this can also be the female given name, Yukari.

盟友 means a sworn friend or ally. If you stand on the same side of an issue with someone, and perhaps fight for the same cause together, this is the term you would use to describe such a partner.

There may not be a personal relationship, as this term is also used to describe whole countries that make a coalition, or fight against a common enemy.

This would be most appropriate if you are a high-level military officer, giving this wall scroll to an officer of another country as you join forces together, and go to war.

The first two characters mean eternal, eternity, perpetuity, forever, immortality, and permanence.

The third character is a possessive article which sort of makes this selection mean "Love, of the eternal kind."

The last character is "friend" or "Friendship."

Can also be defined as companionship or fellowship.

友誼 is common in Chinese and Korean Hanja but seldom used in Japanese anymore.

See Also:  Partnership

Can also be translated as "camaraderie" or "fellowship."

But this character combination is only used commonly in Japanese Kanji and Korean Hanja.

永遠的朋友 is exactly what the title suggests. 永遠的朋友 means friends that are eternal or a friendship that will last forever - you will remain the best of friends as long as you live.

The first two characters mean forever, eternal, eternity, perpetuity, immortality, and/or permanence.

The middle character links the words (it's a possessive article).

The last two characters represent friendship, or simply "friends."

至愛 can mean the best love or most sincere love of your life.

This could be a romantic love such as the love you have for your spouse or a boyfriend / girlfriend.

It can also apply to the extreme love you have for your children or a parent, and maybe a really good friend.

See Also:  I Love You

魂の友 is one of a few ways to write "Soul Mates" in Japanese.

The first Kanji means soul, spirit, ghost, immortal soul, the mind, or conscious mind. From Sanskrit it's Vijñāna.

The middle character is a Japanese Hiragana connecting or possessive article that links the two ideas together.

The last Kanji means friends or friendship.