Meaning of friendship (what is it, concept and definition)

What is friendship:

Friendship is an affective relationship that can be established between two or more individuals, to which fundamental values ​​such as love, loyalty, solidarity, unconditionality, sincerity and commitment are associated, and which is cultivated with assiduous treatment. and reciprocal interest over time.

The word friendship comes from the Latin amicĭtas , amicitātis , which is derived from amicitĭa , which means 'friendship'. This, in turn, comes from amīcus , which translates 'friend'. The latter term, meanwhile, comes from the verb amāre , which means 'to love'.

Friendship can arise between men and women, boyfriends, husbands, relatives with any kind of bond, people of different ages, religions, ideologies, cultures, social extraction, etc. Even, a friendship can be established between a human being and an animal (not for nothing the dog is man's best friend).

Friendships can be born in the most diverse contexts and situations: the place where we live, the place where we work, the school, the university, parties, meetings, the coffee that we frequent, through other friends, social networks, etc.

Friendships, however, have different degrees of rapport. From the friends with whom we have more distant relationships, to those with whom the treatment is so close that we consider them "best friends", giving that friendship a degree of superiority over other friends.

Friendship not only arises with those who have more affinities in terms of tastes and interests, or with whom we have more similarity, but it can appear between very different people.

In fact, sometimes that is a factor that strengthens friendship, because a good friendship complements and enriches the person, not only in the exchange of ideas, information and feelings, but also in the fact of sharing the good and bad moments of life.

See also:

• Sayings about friendship that will make you think.The 7 images to discover what friendship is.

Friendship and love

Love and friendship have deep affection, respect, loyalty and a sense of commitment in common. In fact, in friendship there is always love and in love, generally, friendship.

They differ in several ways. For example, love intends to last forever, and, in fact, the marriage vow so establishes it. In contrast, friendship, not tied to more commitment than reciprocal affection, tends to be more solid than love.

One of the main issues in which love and friendship are different lies in the mutual sexual attraction that love implies, although there are cases in which friendship passes to love.

Furthermore, friends can have infinite reasons to be (sharing the same spaces - such as work or school - common interests, related passions, mutual admiration), while those who love each other may have absolutely nothing in common and, without However, strongly desire to be together.

True friendship

True friendship has become a utopian theme in this globalized world, of relationships based on immediacy and superficiality, where we are increasingly unable to put aside our interests and really build a lasting and solid bond of friendship.

When there is a true friendship, friends recognize each other as "best friends." Best friends are those whose level of loyalty, attention, care and affection is above normal. It is the one that is counted on for life and is present at all times.

Friends with the right to touch or with benefits

The concept of friends with the right to touch, with benefits or simply with the right, is one used to designate the relationships that exist between two individuals (men and women and people of the same sex), where there is a level of involvement, rapport and intimacy superior to that of friendship.

In this sense, it becomes a relationship of a loving and sexual type, where people are friends and lovers, to avoid the social commitments that the formalization of dating would imply. In many cases, this type of friendship can happen to the courtship and, even, to the marriage.

International Friendship Day

International Friendship Day has been designated, since 2011, on July 20 by the United Nations General Assembly to pay tribute to this type of fundamental affection for humanity.

However, the proposal to establish a day to celebrate friendship originates in Paraguay, in 1958, and is raised by the World Friendship Crusade.

However, the date varies depending on the country where we are. In some places, such as Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, it is celebrated on February 14, along with Valentine's Day.

In Peru, it is celebrated on the first Saturday of July, while in Colombia it is the third Saturday of September, and in Chile the first Friday of October. Bolivia, meanwhile, celebrates it on July 23, and Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay prefer to do it on July 20.

Celebrating the friend's day on July 20 was a proposal by an Argentine who put it this way in commemoration of the arrival of man on the Moon in 1969, in order to highlight the importance that fact had on humanity.