Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A person who accompanies or associates with another; a comrade.
- n. A domestic partner.
- n. A person employed to assist, live with, or travel with another.
- n. One of a pair or set of things; a mate.
- v. To be a companion to; accompany.
- n. Nautical A companionway.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One who accompanies or associates with another, either habitually or casually; one who shares the lot of another; a mate; a comrade.
- n. A fellow; a worthless person.
- n. One who holds the lowest rank in an English honorary order: as, a companion of the Bath (abbreviated C. B.), St. Michael and St. George, etc.
- To be a companion to; accompany.
- To make equal; put on the same level.
- n. Nautical: The framing and sash-lights on the quarter-deck or round-house, through which light passes to the cabins and deck below.
- n. A raised hatch or cover to the cabin-stair of a merchant vessel.
- To associate or keep company: used with with: as, to companion with vagabonds.
- A simplified spelling of companion.
Wiktionary
- n. A friend, acquaintance, or partner; someone with whom one spends time or keeps company
- n. dated A person employed to accompany or travel with another.
- n. nautical The framework on the quarterdeck of a sailing ship through which daylight entered the cabins below.
- n. nautical The covering of a hatchway on an upper deck which leads to the companionway; the stairs themselves.
- n. topology A knot in whose neighborhood another, specified knot meets every meridian disk.
- n. figuratively A thing or phenomenon that is closely associated with another thing, phenomenon, or person.
- n. astronomy A celestial object that is associated with another.
- v. obsolete To be a companion to; to attend on; to accompany.
- v. obsolete To qualify as a companion; to make equal.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. One who accompanies or is in company with another for a longer or shorter period, either from choice or casually; one who is much in the company of, or is associated with, another or others; an associate; a comrade; a consort; a partner.
- n. A knight of the lowest rank in certain orders.
- n. obsolete A fellow; -- in contempt.
- n. A skylight on an upper deck with frames and sashes of various shapes, to admit light to a cabin or lower deck.
- n. A wooden hood or penthouse covering the companion way; a companion hatch.
- v. rare To be a companion to; to attend on; to accompany.
- v. obsolete To qualify as a companion; to make equal.
WordNet 3.0
- n. one paid to accompany or assist or live with another
- v. be a companion to somebody
- n. a traveler who accompanies you
- n. a friend who is frequently in the company of another
Etymologies
- From Middle English companion, from Old French compaignon ("companion"), from Late Latin compāniōn- (nominative singular compāniō), from com- + pānis (literally, with + bread), a word first attested in the Frankish Lex Salica as a translation of a Germanic word, probably Frankish *galaibo, *gahlaibo (“messmate”, literally "with-bread"), from *hlaib (“loaf, bread”). Compare also Old High German galeipo ("messmate"), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐌰 (gahlaiba, "messmate"), Old Armenian ընկեր (ənker, "friend", literally "messmate"). More at co-, loaf. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English compaignyon, from Old French compaignon, from Vulgar Latin *compāniō, *compāniōn- : Latin com-, com- + Latin pānis, bread; see pā- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“II. i.29 (189,4) every companion] The use of _companion_ was the same as of _fellow_ now.”
“The word companion means someone who walks with us in the same direction; it denotes someone with whom we can relate and with whom we can begin to build trust.”
“You know, the word companion comes from the Latin root for bread ...”
CNN Transcript - Larry King Live: Andrew Weil Discusses `Eating Well' - April 5, 2000
“In the Klondike, as Tom Vincent found out, such a companion is absolutely essential.”
“The only other living thing he has as a companion is a cockroach (which does play on some long-ago statements that such insects would be the last survivors of a world catastrophe).”
“These online additions can take the place of what you call a companion book, which I can tell you, the publisher would never go for.”
“He's talking - it's gotta be Williams Syndrome - and his companion is absently nodding.”
“Klondike, as Tom Vincent found out, such a companion is absolutely essential.”
“The woman whom you call my companion is my Mother in”
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 3
“Then there was his much-merited reputation as a bon viveur - he was a famously heavy smoker and admitted to having had problems with alcohol, which he described as his "companion", though he maintained that it never limited his effectiveness on the pitch.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘companion’.
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people (good)
nouns for good people / words that describe good people.
go to the bad people list
( people, character, descriptor, noun )philanthropist, angel, environmentalist, activist, advocate, volunteer, hero, parent, friend, virtuoso, gentleman, helper and 62 more...
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Twitter favorites
The new favourite words of people on Twitter.
A script searches Twitter for "X is my new favorite word" and adds it to this list.
See also:
grabbable, retuiteando, leaving, fantastic, absolutely, kurwa, hella, ridic, underpass, hate, interlude, plush and 2369 more... -
Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
contemplate, container, consumer, consultant, consensus, conscious, conscience, connection, confusion, confront, conflict, confident and 4334 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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1906 Railway Cipher Code
Terms from the Standard Cipher Code of the American Railway Association, 1906. The terms were shorthand for common phrases used in telegraphic communications between station agents and Railway Asso...
abdominal, abetting, abiology, ablative, abnormal, abominate, aboveboard, abrasive, absinth, abstinent, accursed, acetate and 212 more...
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Through Thick & Thin
sidekick, partner, buddy, ally, accessory, accomplice, cohort, collaborator, pal, mate, compadre, compatriot and 30 more...
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Friends
homeboy, homie, friend, buddy, bro, dude, brother, dawg, pal, bff, girl, mate and 41 more...
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Food for Thought
A breaded foray of words
lady, appanage, companion, penuche, pastille, pantry, panicle, panocha, pannier, panatela, panada, panada and 87 more...
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The Doctor... Doctor who?
"Just the Doctor."
(My attempt at a Doctor Who list, as requested by plethora.)doctor, master, companion, time lord, tardis, dalek, cyberman, brilliant, fantastic, jelly baby, human, alien and 30 more...
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josswords
A list based on words and ideas from Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.
laconic, sanguine, serenity, slayer, firefly, gorram, watcher, shiny, big bad, the black, browncoat, 'verse and 15 more...
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Poetrie: Nelson, My Dog
by Gary Soto
Like the cat he scratches the flea camping in fur.
Unlike the cat he delights in water up to his ears.
He frolics. He catches a crooked stick--
On his ...cat, scratches, flea, delights, water, frolics, crooked stick, naps, shudders awake, responds, head to tail, happiness and 87 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for companion.
hernesheir Railway telegraphers' shorthand for the phrase "Minimum weight _____ pounds each". --US Railway Association, Standard Cipher Code, 1906. Yours is a little on the heavy side, by the way. Jan 21, 2013
elfflame Inara Sera: I have to say, this is the first time we've had a preacher on board.
Book: Well, I wasn't expecting to see a state official either. Ambassador. shakes her hand as Mal laughs. I'm missing something funny.
Kaylee: Not so funny.
Inara: Ambassador is Mal's way of—
Mal: She's a whore, Shep.
Kaylee: The term is companion.
- "Serenity," the first episode of Firefly Dec 18, 2007