false friend

Meaning

1. A word in a language that bears a deceptive resemblance to a word in another language but in fact has a different meaning.
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see false, friend.

Synonyms

faux ami

false cognate

nonequivalent

FA

fair-weather friend

faux amis

Translations

faux-ami

falscher Freund

falso amico

falso amigo

faux ami

ψευδόφιλη

faux amis

falsus amicus

valse vriend

falso amigo

falsos amigos

falso cognado

صَدِيق كَاذِب

yalancı eşdeğer

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˌfɒls ˈfɹɛnd/

Etymology

Calque of French faux-ami, from the longer phrase faux amis du traducteur (“false friends of a translator”), first used by Maxime Kœssler and Jules Derocquigny in 1928 in their book Les Faux Amis ou les trahisons du vocabulaire anglais (False Friends, or the Pitfalls of the English Vocabulary).