next friend

noun

: a person admitted to or appointed by a court to act for the benefit of a person (such as an infant) lacking full legal capacity

Word History

First Known Use

1579, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of next friend was in 1579

Dictionary Entries Near next friend

next-door neighbor

next friend

next-gen

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Next friend.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/next%20friend. Accessed 15 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Legal Definition

next friend

noun
: a person appearing in or appointed by a court to act on behalf of a person (as a child) lacking legal capacity
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

Using Bullet Points ( • )

Point of View: It's Personal

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

More Words with Remarkable Origins

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels

12 More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
confused man standing between two doors
One Word or Two? Take the Quiz! Some words just need a little space.