befriend

[ bih-frend ]

/ bɪˈfrɛnd /

to make friends or become friendly with; act as a friend to; help; aid: to befriend the poor and the weak.

Origin of befriend

First recorded in 1550–60; be- + friend

assist, comfort, succor; welcome.

un·be·friend·ed, adjective

Which itself, in turn, makes it harder to befriend people from the other side.

Red Date, Blue Date |Megan McArdle |October 30, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Strangers in a Strange Land |Emily L. Hauser |September 7, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
But whatever their private feeling, politicians have been keen to befriend a critical power-broker.

Knives Out Against Murdoch |William Underhill |July 7, 2011 |DAILY BEAST
Meanwhile, Mr. Flaxman was always there to befriend or amuse his sister's protégés—always there, but never in the way.

Robert Elsmere |Mrs. Humphry Ward

Even after this date Southampton continued to befriend Florio for many years.

Shakespeare's Lost Years in London, 1586-1592 |Arthur Acheson
Afghans Afraid to Befriend us I now set to work to collect supplies for the winter.

Forty-one years in India |Frederick Sleigh Roberts
When he was gone, Lakshmi said: "My child, do not fear; I'll befriend you."

Essays in the Study of Folk-Songs (1886) |Countess Evelyn Martinengo-Cesaresco
I hope that your Ladyship will befriend him with your counsel and countenance in that country, where he is a stranger.

Letters of Samuel Rutherford |Samuel Rutherford

befriend

/ (bɪˈfrɛnd) /

(tr) to be a friend to; assist; favour