Category:Companion

Com*pan"ion, n. Etym: [F. compagnon, OF. compaing, fr. as assumed LL. companio (cf. companium fellowship, a mess), fr. L. com- + panis bread. See Pantry.]

1. 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. The companions of his fall. Milton. The companion of fools shall smart for it. Prov. xiii. 20 (Rev. Ver. ) Here are your sons again; and I must lose Two of the sweetest companions in the world. Shak. A companion is one with whom we share our bread; a messmate. Trench.

2. A knight of the lowest rank in certain orders; as, a companion of the Bath.

3. A fellow; -- in contempt. [Obs.] Shak.

4. Etym: [Cf. OSp. compaña an outhouse, office.] (Naut.) (a) A skylight on an upper deck with frames and sashes of various shapes, to admit light to a cabin or lower deck. (b) A wooden hood or penthouse covering the companion way; a companion hatch. Companion hatch (Naut.), a wooden porch over the entrance or staircase of the cabin. -- Companion ladder (Naut.), the ladder by which officers ascend to, or descend from, the quarter-deck. Totten. -- Companion way (Naut.), a staircase leading to the cabin. -- Knights companions, in certain honorary orders, the members of the lowest grades as distinguished from knights commanders, knights grand cross, and the like.

Syn. -- Associate; comrade; mate; compeer; partner; ally; confederate; coadjutor; accomplice.

companion Com*pan"ion, v. t.

1. To be a companion to; to attend on; to accompany. [R.] Ruskin.

2. To qualify as a companion; to make equal. [Obs.] Companion me with my mistress. Shak.