The editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary have chosen "unfriend" as its "2009 Word of the Year," beating out other Internet-oriented neologisms such as "hashtag," "netbook," "paywall" and "sexting."
Online, the word "unfriend" is used to refer to the process of removing a person from one's "friend list" on a social networking site such as Facebook or MySpace.
However, Tolkien aficionados may remember the word from The Silmarillion, where it is used twice (once in the form "unfriendship"). From page 70:
Now the Green-elves of Ossiriand were troubled by the coming of Men, and when they heard that a lord of the Eldar fromover the Sea was among them they sent messengers to Felagund. 'Lord,' they said, 'if you have power over these newcomers, bid them return by the ways that they came, or else to go forward. For we desire no strangers in this land to break the peace in which we live. And these folk are hewers of trees and hunters of beasts; therefore we are their unfriends, and if they will not depart we shall afflict them in all ways that we can.' ...
Soon after the departure of Felagund the other Men of whom Bëor had spoken came also into Beleriand. First came the Haladin; but meeting the unfriendship of the Green-elves they turned north and dwelt in Thargelion, in the country of Caranthir son of Fëanor; there for a time they had peace, and the people of Caranthir paid little heed to them.
Here the word seems to be used to describe someone who is not a friend, but also not an enemy -- unwelcome, but not someone the Elves felt any need to actively oppose, unless the Men insisted on staying in their realm.
"Unfriend" is listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, of which Tolkien was an editor of the first edition. Dating from 1275, the word appears to mean "enemy," and was used chiefly in Scotland.
If anyone knows more about this word's etymology and its use in Tolkien's work; or has access to the OED and can quote the entry for "unfriend," please comment below or contact the author. Thank you.
Comments
As my beloved OED is so unwieldy (and requires a magnifier), I checked first in The New Shorter OED (an abridgment of the bazillion lb. version).
unfriend: [n.] A person who is not a friend or on friendly terms; an enemy.
There is also an entry for "unfriended," meaning "without friends."
I may check the big OED later to see if the entry is more expanded. It usually is.
-Elizabeth Kelly
Gourmet Food Examiner (and word nerd)
My OED has several listings for unfriend; the verb entry cites a text by Fuller from 1659, App. Inj. Innoc., "I hope, Sir, that we are not mutually Unfriended by this Difference which has happened betwixt us."
-Ann Possis, copyeditor and proofreader
During Tolkien's brief period as an assistant on the _Oxford English Dictionary_ his colleague (and former tutor) William Craigie was wrestling with the large section of the Dictionary devoted to words beginning with un-, including the entry for unfriend. We (viz. I and my OED colleagues Jeremy Marshall and Edmund Weiner) discuss this on pp. 205–6 of our book _The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary_, in our article on Tolkien's distinctive use of the word unlight; we also mention a number of other striking un-words to be found in Tolkien's writing, including unassessably and unthrottled.
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