What Are The Variations Of The Word

How do you say "friend" in Russian? What are some variations of that word?

A2A,The most common word is друг. Normally it assumes some strong type of relationship with ability to rely on друг’s help and support. Some people (including myself) use друг for very limited group of people that has proven the longevity and stability of the relationship. Others (particularly women) are less scrupulous and use this word for any person evoking positive emotions.Female analog for друг из подруга. Normally, подруга does not have connotation of strong relationship with ability to rely on help and support and is mostly viewed as chat partner. Probably this is because female friendship in Russian (or universal?) culture is considered less stable and more fluctuating. Anyhow, there’s even lighter version of подруга подружка. This type of relationship assumes common pastime and is not used in context of “a friend in deed is a friend indeed”.The word приятель originating from the adjective приятный (pleasant, nice) is used for light type of friendship to exclude the connotation of “friend in deed”. It can be considered as a gender free version of подружка.The word товарищ used to be analog of приятель (probably with a little bit less sympathy assumed). Anyhow, as this word was used for addressing others during communist era (analog of modern “mister” or “sir”), it should be used with caution and never for addressing (so, never translate “hello, my friend” to “здравствуй, товарищ”). This word has female version товарка but it is used very rarely and mostly denotes “colleague”.The most neutral version is знакомый meaning “acquaintance” but often used for “friend” when it is assumed that you know each other’s name and may have some random conversation.