Mot d’une langue donnée dont la morphologie ressemble à celle d’un mot d’une autre langue, mais dont la signification ou l’une des acceptions est différente.

Actually et actuellement sont de faux amis :

• I am actually very happy. (en fait)

• Je suis actuellement très heureuse. (currently)

Délai et delay sont de faux amis :

• I had some delay in completing a construction project. (avoir du retard)

• J’avais un délai pour compléter le projet de construction. (time limit)

Different historical processes affect word meanings, which results in two groups of false friends:

a. pairs of words in two closely related languages, which can develop semantically in different directions (e.g., the English word gift in the meaning of ‘present’ vs. the German word Gift in the meaning of ‘poison’)

b. internationalisms, i.e., Euro-Latin and Euro-Greek words, which have been borrowed repeatedly during different phases of history; they often undergo different semantic developments in two or more languages (e.g., the Latin word concursus, which may mean ‘bankruptcy’ in e.g., German (‘Konkurs’) or Slovene (‘konkurz’) or ‘competition, music or art contest’ in e.g., French (‘concours’).