Quick Definition
φίλος, η, ον Adj. & n.f. & n.m. friendly, a friend
Strong's Definition
properly, dear, i.e. a friend; actively, fond, i.e. friendly (still as a noun, an associate, neighbor, etc.)
KJV Usage: friend
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
adjc. | -η, -ον | φιλέω
34.11 · Association · Associate
friend a male person with whom one associates and for whom there is affection or personal regard In some languages there are different terms for different grades of friends, that is to say, a difference between intimate friends with whom one constantly shares and those who constitute a somewhat wider circle of persons who are on friendly terms but who are not in the inner circle of intimate relations. The choice of terms for ‘friend’ will depend, of course, upon individual contexts.
MAT 11:19 · LUK 7:6 · LUK 7:34 · LUK 11:5 · LUK 11:5 · LUK 11:6 · LUK 11:8 · LUK 12:4 · LUK 14:10 · LUK 14:12 · LUK 15:6 · LUK 15:29 · LUK 16:9 · LUK 21:16 · LUK 23:12 · JHN 3:29 · JHN 11:11 · JHN 15:13 · JHN 15:14 · JHN 15:15 · JHN 19:12 · ACT 10:24 · ACT 19:31 · ACT 27:3 · JAS 2:23 · JAS 4:4 · 3JN 1:15 · 3JN 1:15
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
φίλος, -7, -ov, fr. Hom. down, friendly [ef. L. and 5. s. v. I. and IL]: φίλον εἶναί τινι, to be friendly to one, wish him well, Acts xix. 31; 1. ὁ φίλος, Sept. for YN, IOs, subst., a friend: Lk. vii. 6; xi. 5; xv. 6; xvi. 9; xxiii. 12; Acts xxvii.3; 3 Jn. 15 (14); joined with συγγενεῖς, Lk. xxi. 16; an associate, opp. to δοῦλος, Jn. xv. 15; φίλοι ἀναγκαῖοι, [A. V.near friends] Lat. necessitate conjuncti, Acts x. 24; φίλε, friend, in kindly address, Lk. xiv. 10; with agen. of the subject, ὁ φίλος τινός, Lk. xi. 6, [8]; xii. 4; xiv. 12; xv. 29; Jn. xi. 11; xv. 18 sq.; spec. he who associates familiarly with one, a companion, Mt. xi. 19; Lk. vii. 34; ὁ @. τοῦ νυμφίου, the rabbinical ;avjw [q.v. in Buxtorf or Levy] (i.e. ‘son of gladness’), one of the bridegroom’s friends who on his behalf asked the hand of the bride and rendered him various services in closing the marriage and celebrating the nuptials [B. D.s. v. Marriage, Π1.; Edersheim, Jewish Social Life, p. 152], Jn. iii. 29; φίλος τοῦ Καίσαρος, on Caesar’s side, loyal to his interests, Jn. xix. 12; θεοῦ, esp. dear to God, peculiarly favored with his intimacy, Jas. fi. 23 ({ef. Harnack and Bp. Lghtft. on Clem. Rom. 1 Cor. 10,1; Rénsch in the Zeitschr. f. wissenschaftl. Theol. for 1873, p.583 sq.]; also in prof. auth. cf. Grimm, Exeget. Hdbch. on Sap. vii. 27 p. 164); with a gen. of the thing, one who finds his pleasure in a thing, φίλος τοῦ κόσμου, Jas. iv. 4. 2. Fem. φίλη, 9,4 (female) friend: Lk. xy. 9.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
φίλος philos 29x
loved, dear; devoted; Acts 19:31; as a subst., a friend, Lk. 7:6; 11:5, 6, 8; a congenial associate, Mt. 11:19; Lk. 7:34; Jas. 4:4; used as a word of courteous appellation, Lk. 14:10
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
φίλος, -η, -ον
[in LXX chiefly for רֵעַ, אֹהֵב ;]
pass., beloved, dear (Hom., Eur., al.).
Act., loving, friendly (in cl. less freq. and only in poets): Ac 19:31. As subst., a friend;
masc., ὁ φ.: Lk 7:6 11:5 14:10 15:6 16:9 21:16 23:12, Ac 27:3, III Jo 15; opp. to δοῦλος, Jo 15:15; φ. ἀναγκαῖοι, Ac 10:24; c. gen. subj., Mt 11:19, Lk 7:34 11:6, 8 12:4 14:12 15:29, Jo 11:11 15:13, 14; ὁ φ. τοῦ νυμφίου, Jo 3:29; τ. Καίσαρος (v. Deiss., BS 167; LAE, 382 f.), Jo 19:12; θεοῦ (v. Hort, in l.), Ja 2:23; c. gen. rei, τ, κόσμου, Ja 4:4;
fem., ἡ φ., Lk 15:9,†
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
φίλος, ‘*a friend”: Preisigke 68174 (letter of commendation— B.C, 255) πυνθανόμενος δέ σε εἶναι ἐπιε[ιἸκῆ ἠξίωσάν τινές pe τῶν φίλων γράψαι [σο]ς, P Vat A*° (8.6. 168) (= Witkowski*, p. 66) ἀσπάζεσθαι τὴν γυνάϊκα Kal τὰ παιδία Kal τοὺς φίλους, BGU IV. 12098 (8.6. 23) ἡμῶν δὲ φίλου γενομένου ITerexayros, ‘our late friend Petechon,” P Oxy IV. 7427 (B.c. 2) παράδος δέ τινι τῶν φίλων ἀριθμῷ αὐτὰς (sc. δέσμας) ἵνα πάλιν φίίλος ἡμεῖν παραδοῖ ἀσφαλῶς, ‘deliver a few of them (sc. bundles of reeds) to Part VIII.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
φίλος (philos) — friendly/friend. φίλος, η, ον, also ος, ον [Refs 8th c.BC+] with ῑ at the beginning of a verse, see below].
I. passive, beloved, dear, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; frequently with dative, dear to one, μάλα οἱ φ. ἦεν [Refs]; with neuter nouns, φίλε τέκνον [Refs 8th c.BC+]; also φίλος for φίλε (Attic dialect, accusative to [Refs 8th c.BC+]: genitive added to the vocative, φίλ᾽ ἀνδρῶν [Refs 5th c.BC+] substantive:
I. a φίλος, ὁ, friend, κουρίδιος φίλος, i.e. husband, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; φίλοι friends, kith and kin, νόσφιφίλων [Refs 8th c.BC+]; φ. μέγιστος my greatest friend, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; φίλοι οἱ ἐγγυτάτω, οἱ ἔγγιστα, [Refs 8th c.BC+] frequently with a genitive, ὁ Διὸς φίλος [Refs 4th c.BC+]; τοὺς ἐμαυτοῦ φ., τοὺς τούτων φ., [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τῶν ἐμε̄ν φ.[Refs 5th c.BC+] a friend is another self, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; also of friends or allies, opposed to πολέμιοι, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; of a lover, [Refs 5th c.BC+]; φίλε my friend, as a form of courteous address, [NT]; in relation to things, οἱ μουσικῆς φ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]
I. b φίλη, ἡ, dear one, friend, κλῦτε, φίλαι [Refs 8th c.BC+]; of a wife, φίλην τινὰ ἄγεσθαι take as one's wife, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; ἡ Ξέρξου φ., of his mother, [Refs 4th c.BC+]; of a mistress, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
I. c φίλον, τό, an object of love, τὸ φ. σέβεσθαι to reverence what the city loves, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: addressed to persons, darling, φ. ἐμόν [Refs 5th c.BC+]; τὰ φίλτατα one's nearest and dearest, dear ones, such as wife and children, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: see at {φίλτατο; τἀμὰ φίλα, τὰ σὰ φ}., [Refs]
I. d οἱ πρῶτοι φίλοι, a title at the Ptolemaic court, [Refs 2nd c.BC+], etc.; or simply οἱ φ. τοῦ βασιλέως [Refs] one of the king's friends and dioecetes, [Refs 2nd c.BC+]
I.2. of things, pleasant, welcome, δόσις ὀλίγη τε φ. τε [Refs 8th c.BC+]; δαίμοσιν πράσσειν φίλα their pleasure, [Refs 4th c.BC+]
I.2. b frequently as predicate, φίλον ἐστί or γίγνεταί μοι pleases me, it is after my own heart, εἴ πού τοι φίλον ἐστί [Refs 8th c.BC+]; μὴ φ. Διὶ πατρὶ γένοιτο[Refs 8th c.BC+]: less frequently with infinitive, οὐ μὲν Τυδέϊ γ᾽ ὧδε φίλον πτωσκαζέμεν [Refs 8th c.BC+]participle, εἰ τόδ᾽ αὐτῷ φιλον κεκλημένῳ if it please him to be so called, [Refs 4th c.BC+]: agreeing with plural, αἰεί τοι τὰ κάκ᾽ ἐστὶ φίλα φρεσὶ μαντεύεσθαι [Refs 8th c.BC+]
I.2. c in [Refs 8th c.BC+] and early Poets, one's own; frequently of limbs, life, etc., φίλον δ᾽ ἐξαίνυτο θυμόν he took away dear life, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; especially of one's nearest kin, πατὴρ φ. [Refs 8th c.BC+] angry with his own mother, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: simply to denote possession, φίλα εἵματα [Refs]; φ. πόνος their wonted labour, [Refs 3rd c.BC+]
I.2. d applied to the numbers [Refs 4th c.AD+]
II. less frequently (chiefly poetry) in active sense, loving, friendly, [Refs 8th c.BC+] friendly to strangers, [Refs 5th c.BC+]: of things, kindly, pleasing, φίλα φρεσὶ μήδεα εἰδώς [Refs 8th c.BC+]; φίλα φρονέειν τινί feel kindly, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; φ. ποιέεσθαί τινι deal with one in friendly fashion, do one a pleasure, [Refs 5th c.BC+]
II.2. fond of a thing, attached to, ἄλλων νόμων [Refs 5th c.BC+]
III. adverb φίλως, once in [Refs 8th c.BC+] ye would fain see it, [Refs 8th c.BC+]; φ. ἐμοί in a manner dear or pleasing to me, [Refs]
III.2. in a friendly, kindly spirit, τήνδε τὴν πόλιν φ. εἰπών [Refs 5th c.BC+]
IV. φίλος has several forms of comparison:
IV.1. comparative φιλίων [λῐ], ον, genitive ονος, [Refs 8th c.BC+]: superlative φίλιστος, η, ον, interpolated in [Refs 5th c.BC+]
IV.2. comparative φίλτερος, superlative φίλτατος, see entry.
IV.3. comparative φιλαίτερος [Refs 5th c.BC+]: superlative φιλαίτατος [Refs 5th c.BC+]
IV.4. regular comparative φιλώτερος [Refs 5th c.BC+]
IV.5. also as comparative, μᾶλλον φίλος [Refs 5th c.BC+]; superlative, μάλιστα φ. [Refs 5th c.BC+]