companion
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kəmˈpænjən/
note: Indic
ipa: /kəmˈpænɪən/
note: Indic
ipa: /kəmˈpenɪən/
note: Indic
ipa: /kəmp(ə)ˈnɪən/
rhymes: -ænjən
Forms: form: companions
Etymology: From Middle English companion, from Old French compaignon (“companion”) (modern French compagnon), from Late Latin compāniōn- (nominative singular compāniō, whence French copain), from com- + pānis (literally, with + bread), a word first attested in the Frankish Lex Salica as a calque of a Germanic word, probably Frankish *galaibo, *gahlaibō (“messmate”, literally “with-bread”), from Proto-Germanic *gahlaibô. Compare also Old High German galeipo (“messmate”) and Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐌰 (gahlaiba, “messmate”); and, for the semantics, compare Old Armenian ընկեր (ənker, “friend”, literally “messmate”). More at co-, loaf. Displaced native Old English ġefēra (literally “fellow traveler”). Compare company and mate.
Senses: examples: text: His dog has been his trusted companion for the last five years.
text: Heere are your Sonnes againe, and I muſt looſe / Two of the ſweet’ſt Companions in the World.
ref: 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v], page 398, column 1:
text: The krogan have had a love-hate relationship with varren for millennia, alternately fighting them for territory and embracing them as treasured companions.
ref: 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Varren Codex entry:
text: For the most part, Hefner's female companions all adhered to the same mold: twentysomething, bosomy and blonde. "Well, I guess I know what I like," he once said when asked about his preferences.
ref: 2017 September 27, David Browne, “Hugh Hefner, 'Playboy' Founder, Dead at 91”, in Rolling Stone:
glosses: A friend, acquaintance, or partner; someone with whom one spends time or accompanies
glosses: A person employed to accompany or travel with another.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: The framework on the quarterdeck of a sailing ship through which daylight entered the cabins below.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: The covering of a hatchway on an upper deck which leads to the companionway; the stairs themselves.
topics: mathematics
sciences
topology
glosses: A knot in whose neighborhood another, specified knot meets every meridian disk.
glosses: A thing or phenomenon that is closely associated with another thing, phenomenon, or person.
examples: text: The companion guide gives an in-depth analysis of this particular translation.
glosses: An appended source of media or information, designed to be used in conjunction with and to enhance the main material.
topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
glosses: A celestial object that is associated with another.
examples: text: a companion of the Bath
glosses: A knight of the lowest rank in certain orders.
examples: text: [L]et vs knog our praines together to be reuenge on this ſame ſcall ſcuruy-cogging-companion the Hoſt of the Garter.
ref: c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 49, column 1, line 111:
glosses: A fellow; a rogue.
Derived terms: animal companion
boon companion
companimal
companionable
uncompanionable
companion animal
companionate
companion cell
companioness
companion hatch
companionhood
companionize
companion ladder
companionless
companionly
companion set
companionship
companionway
free companion
ladies' companion
native companion
pot-companion
Related terms: accompany
accompanying
company