The etymological origin of the word friendship could not be accurately determined. There are those who affirm that it comes from the Latin amicus (“friend”), which in turn derived from amore (“to love”). However, other scholars affirm that friend is a Greek word made up of a (“without”) and ego (“I”), so friend would mean “without my self”. In any case, friendship is an affective relationship between two people and one of the most common interpersonal bonds that most human beings have throughout their lives.
According to DigoPaul, friendship involves various feelings, where one friend goes to the other in search of trust, love, comfort, respect and company, for example. These relationships occur at all stages of life, although with different degrees of importance and significance. It is said that there are friendships that are born within a few minutes of beginning a relationship, and others that can take years to consolidate.
When speaking of a friend, reference is made to that person who not only shares with you the best moments of your life but also the worst. More precisely, it is considered that precisely someone demonstrates their friendship when they are together with that friend who is going through illnesses, losses, grief, a sentimental breakdown, a serious economic situation…
Precisely this is what serves to make clear the difference between friend and acquaintance, since there are many people who tend to confuse both terms. Thus, the acquaintance is that individual who is present in your life but only at certain moments, not the one who is by your side when you have a hard time or when you need a shoulder to cry on.
Throughout the history of cinema, art, literature or television, we have been told great stories of friendship, such as the one that Miguel de Cervantes captured between his nobleman Don Quixote and his ever faithful Sancho Panza. And the same thing happens with the two of the most famous characters of the English writer Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson.
In the case of the small screen we have the series “Friends”, which as its title says, revolves around the relationships established between six friends in their thirties living in the United States.
On the other hand, in the cinema we find the film entitled “Friendship”. The great filmmaker Steven Spielberg was the one who directed the same film that brings us closer to a real case: the riot in 1839 of more than fifty black slaves who traveled on board the ship “La Amistad”.
Friendship relationships can even exist between two different species. For this reason it is said that the dog is the “best friend of man “, in reference to the affective bond that can be established between a homo sapiens and this animal.
Among the components that form a friendship, it can be mentioned the pleasure of sharing activities, mutual understanding, sympathy, sincerity and interest and concern for the other.
It should be noted that, sometimes, physical presence is not an indispensable condition for friendship. That is why there are numerous friendships developed by correspondence or, currently, through the Internet.
