You might know that the Chinese term 朋友 is the perfect translation of “friend”, but do you know the separate meanings of the two characters? The reason why I bring this up is that there’s a big difference between the two of them. Anyway, allow me to explain it in more detail. 朋 refers to a group of people who share the same goals, sometimes the same beliefs, but in general, their motivations are related. They normally belong to the same organization or party. So due to some same or similar purpose, they stand together. Since they don’t need to be friends, I personally describe them as just being “in the same boat”. The meaning of 友 is more along the lines of "friend". If people are 友, they have an interest in the same subjects or devote themselves to the same thing. Due to that, they like each other, but don’t have to know each other very well. Nevertheless, I find it weird that the two characters combine to mean “friend”.