companion 
nion, F. compagnon (> G. compagnon = D. Dan. 
kompagnon) = Pr. eompanho = Sp. eompafto, 
companon (obs.) = It. compagno, < ML. *coi- 
panio(n-), companion, messmate, commensal, 
< companium, companies (> OF. oompotonta, 
etc.), a mess, company taking meals together: 
see company, .] 1. One who accompanies or 
associates with another, either habitually or 
casually; one who shares the lot of another; 
a mate ; a comrade. 
I am a companion of all them that fear thee. 
Pi. cxix. 63. 
Set Calilian and his companion! free. 
Shak., Tempest, v. 1. 
A merry companion is welcome and acceptable to all 
men. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 433. 
How fair that new May morning when I rose 
Companion of the sun for all the day 
Jones Very, Poems, p. 91. 
2f. A fellow ; a worthless person. 
What should the wars do witli these jigging fools? 
Companion, hence ! Shak., J. C., iv. 3. 
And this companion too beshrew him ! 
Ford, Fancies, ii. 1. 
3. One who holds the lowest rank in an Eng- 
lish honorary order : as, a companion of the Bath 
(abbreviated C, S.), St. Michael and St. George, 
etc. Companion to the cycloid. See cycloid. =Syn. 1. 
Comrade, Friend, etc. See axsociate. 
companion 1 (kora-pan'yon), v. t. [< compan- 
ion 1 , .] 1. To be a companion to; accom- 
pany. 
Methiuks 'twould be a guilt a very guilt 
Not to companion thee. Keatg. 
Nor can he [St. Thomas] be considered as having entire- 
ly abdicated his early right, as his statue, standing on a 
crocodile, still companions the winged lion on the oppo- 
site pillar of the piazzetta. Rugkin. 
2. To make equal ; put on the same level. 
Companion me with my mistress. Shak., A. and C., 1. 2. 
[Rare in both senses.] 
companion 2 (kom-pan'yon), n. [< D. kompanje, 
MD. kompanghe^MliGr. kompandie, kompangne, 
kompagnie, quarter-deck, poop, companion, ap- 
par. < F. compagnie = Sp. compaHa, now com- 
pattia, a company, in the particular sense of 
a ship's company, the crew (cf. Sp. compafta 
(obs. ), an outhouse). The E. -word conforms to 
companion^ ; cf. F. compagnons, sailors, crew, 
lit. companions.] Naut. : (a) The framing and 
sash-lights on the quarter-deck or round-house, 
through which light passes to the cabins and 
deck below. Sailor's Word-book. (6) A raised 
hatch or cover to the cabin-stair of a merchant 
vessel. Young's Naut. Diet. 
companionable (kom-pan'ypn-a-bl), a. [< com- 
panion 1 + -able.] Fitted for good-fellowship ; 
qualified or inclined to be agreeable in com- 
pany; sociable. 
A companionable sadness. /. Walton, Donne. 
I never found the companion that was so companionable 
as solitude. Thoreau, Walden, p. 147. 
companionableness (kom-pan'yon-a-bl-nes), n. 
The quality of being companionable ; sociable- 
ness. 
He [Sir J. Wagstaff] had a great companionablenexfi in 
his nature. Clarendon, Great Rebellion, xiv. 
companionably (kom-pan'yon-a-bli), adv. In 
a companionable manner. Clarendon. 
companion-ladder (kom- pan 'yon -ladder), n. 
The steps or ladder on a ship leading from the 
poop-deck or quarter-deck to the cabin, 
companionless (kom-pan'yon-les), a. [< com- 
panion^- + -less.j Having no companion. 
A phantom among men, companionless 
As the last cloud of an expiring storm. 
Shelley, Adonais, xxxi. 
I, the last, go forth companioning. 
Tennyson, Morte d' Arthur. 
companionship (kom-pan'yon-ship), n. [< com- 
panion 1 + -ship.'] 1. The state or fact of be- 
ing a companion ; fellowship ; association ; com- 
pany; especially, good-fellowship. 
Tis Alcibiades, and some twenty horse, 
All of companionship. Shak., T. of A., i. 1. 
He never seemed to avail himself of my sympathy other 
than by mere companionship. Irving. 
2. In printing, an association of compositors 
engaged in setting up one work or more, under 
the management of a clicker. 
companion-way (kom-pan'yon-wa), n. [< com- 
panion^ + way.] The staircase at the entrance 
to a ship's cabin. 
company (kum'pa-ni), . ; pi. companies (-niz). 
[Early mod. E. also cumpanie; < ME. company*, 
companie, cumpany, compaignie, etc., < OF. com- 
painie, compaignie, cumpaignie, etc., F. compa- 
gnie (> D. kompagnie = G. compagnie = Dan. 
1140 
Sw. kompani, in senses 6, 7, 9) = Pr. companliirt, 
compagnia, mod. coumpagna = Sp. compaflic = 
Pg. comparihia = It. conipagnw, < ML. *com- 
pania; cf. compatmim, and companies, also com- 
pimis, a mess, a company taking meals together 
(later ML. compagnia, any company), < L. com-, 
together, + panis, bread : see pantry. Cf. com- 
panion 1 and companage. Hence (from E. ) Hind. 
kam/mi, (from It.) Turk, qompatitja, company.] 
If. Friendship ; an act pertaining to or befit- 
ting a friend or companion. 
This which thou me dost for companye. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iii. 396. 
2. A person or persons conjoined to or asso- 
ciated with another or others in any way; one 
or more having or coming into companionship 
with another or others : as, choose your com- 
pany carefully; to meet company on the road. 
The Frenchman resisted and drew his sword : with that 
company came in and disarmed him. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 230. 
3. Consort of persons one with another; com- 
panionship; fellowship; association: as, to fall 
into company with a stranger. 
Some of us are gentlemen, 
Such as the fury of ungovern'd youth 
Thrust from the company of awful men. 
Shak., T. G. of V., iv. 1. 
Brethren, farewell ; your company along 
I will not wish. Milton, S. A., 1. 1413. 
4. An assemblage or consociation of persons 
or, rarely, of animals ; any associated or related 
aggregate, indefinitely. 
A nation and a company of nations shall be of thee. 
Gen. xxxv. 11. 
I have compared thee ... to a company of horses. 
Cant. i. 9. 
Forbear till this company be passed. 
Shak., L. L. L., i. 2. 
5. A body of persons associated for friendly 
intercourse, conversation, or pleasure: as, a 
small company to dinner. Specifically (a) Guests 
at a person's house ; persons entertained : often used of a 
single person. 
I believe, Lady Sneerwell, here's company coming. 
Sheridan, School for Scandal, i. 1. 
(b) A body or collection of companions ; a social or con- 
genial assemblage ; society collectively. 
A crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of 
pictures, where there is no love. Bacon, Friendship. 
Conversation with the best company of both sexes. 
Dryden. 
Nature has left every man a capacity of being agreeable, 
though not of shining in company. Swift, Conversation. 
6. A number of persons united for performing 
or carrying on anything jointly : as, a company 
of players; an insurance company; the East 
India Company. In business, a company is generally 
composed of a considerable number of shareholders, who 
delegate the control of its affairs to certain officers; a 
smaller association, each of whose members shares in its 
management, or invests capital in it by special contract, 
is called a partnership. 
7. A member or the members of a firm so des- 
ignated without being named in the style or 
title of the firm: usually abbreviated when 
written : as, Messrs. Smith & Co. 8. More spe- 
cifically, in London, an ancient guild or incor- 
poration of trade: as, "high in office in the 
Goldsmiths' company," Dickeng. 0. Milit., a 
subdivision of an infantry regiment or battal- 
ion, corresponding to a troop of cavalry or a 
battery of artillery, consisting of from 60 to 
100 men, and commanded by a captain, in the 
British army the company is subdivided into four sec- 
tions, and each company has its own arms and accoutre- 
ment chest, and keeps its own books. In the United 
States army infantry companies in time of war are ex- 
pected to show about 100 men. A regiment of infantry 
has 10 companies, and each company has a captain and 
two lieutenants. In the German army a company num- 
bers about 250 men. under a captain, who is mounted. 
10. Naut.: (a) The crew of a ship, including 
the officers. (6) A fleet. lit. A number or 
collection of things. [Rare.] 
There is a great company of faire galleries. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 121. 
There was also a company of deer's feet, stuck up in the 
houses. Mourt's Journal, in App. to New England's 
[Memorial, p. 352. 
Companies Act, an English statute of 1862, frequently 
amended in later years, which provides for the formation, 
management, and winding up of business associations other 
than partnerships. Companies' Clauses Act. an Eng- 
lish statute of 1845 (8 and 9 Viet., c. 16), embodying the 
provisions relating to the constitution and management 
of corporations, usually included in acts creating such 
corporations, for the purpose of avoiding the necessity of 
repeating them in future legislation and of insuring uni- 
formity. Company fund. See fund. Company of 
moneyers. See moneyer Independent company, a 
small body of irregular or militia soldiers, under a cap- 
tain, not attached to any regiment. Limited company, 
or company limited, a company formed under a law 
limiting the liability of its members for the debts and 
comparative 
obligations incurred by the company to a specific amount, 
as the amount of capital subscrilied by each member. 
Livery companies, Builds of London founded in the 
middle ages: so calk-d on account of their adoption of 
particular liveries or costumes. Snip's company, the 
men and officers of a ship. To bear (any one) company, 
to accompany ; attend ; go with. 
His faithful dug shall bear him company. 
Pope, Essay on Man, i. 112. 
To be good company, to be an agreeable companion. 
To keep company, to consort together. 
Day and night did we keep company. Shak., T. N., v. 1, 
To keep (a person) company, (a) To accompany ; at- 
tend ; associate with; remain with for companionship. 
Well, keep me companif but two years more, 
Thou shalt not know the sound of thine own tongue. 
Mm*., M. of V., i. 1. 
(6) To associate with as a lover or suitor. To keep com- 
pany with, (a) To associate with ; make a companion 
of ; accompany. 
Thou see'st my love, that will keep company 
With thee in tears ; hide nothing, then, from me. 
Beau, and Fl., Maid's Tragedy, iii. 2. 
(6) To frequent the society of as a suitor or sweetheart : 
as, to keep company u'ith a girl. [Colloq.] 
My sister Hannah and the young man who was keeping 
company with her went too. 
5. 0. Jeu'ett, Deephaven, p. 137. 
= Syn. 4. Assembly, collection, group, gathering, crowd, 
band, horde, crew, gang, troop. 
companyt (kum'pa-ni), v. [< company, n. Cf. 
accompany, from which company, v., is in part 
derived by apheresis.] I. trans. 1. To accom- 
pany ; attend ; go with ; be companion to. 
The soldier that did company these three. 
Shak., Cymbeline, v. 5. 
I know your goodness companies your greatness. 
Fletcher (and another 1), Queen of Corinth, iii. 1. 
2. To associate ; join. 
Ther dide merveillously well the xl knyghtes that with 
hem were companyed. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 388. 
II. intrang. 1. To live in company; asso- 
ciate ; consort or keep company. 
And what shall we in this case do? Shall we company 
with them ? Latimer, Sermon of the Plough. 
I wrote unto you in au epistle not to company with for- 
nicators. 1 Cor. v. 9. 
2. To be a gay companion. Spenser. 3. To 
have sexual intercourse. Sp. Hall. 
comparable (kom'pa-ra-bl), a. [= F. Sp. com- 
parable = Pg. comparavel = It. comparabilc, < 
L. comparabilis, < comparare, compare : see com- 
pare^, '.] 1. Capable of being compared. 2. 
Worthy of comparison ; being of equal regard ; 
worthy to be ranked with. 
A man comparable with any of the captains of that age. 
Knolles, Hist. Turks. 
In his assumption of infallibility, and his measures for 
enforcing conformity, Calvin was a pope comparable with 
any who issued bulls from the Vatican. 
//. Spencer, Pop. Sci. Mo., XXVIH. 369. 
COmparableness (kom'pa-ra-bl-nes), n. The 
state of being comparable. 
comparably (kom pa-ra-bli), adv. In a man- 
ner or degree wortliy to be compared, or of 
equal regard. IVotton. 
comparate (kom'pa-rat), . [< L. comparatus, 
pp. of comparare, compare: see compare 1 , v.] 
One of two things compared to the other. Dal- 
garno. 
comparationt (kom-pa-ra'shon), n. [< L. com- 
paratio(n-), a preparing, a providing for, < com- 
parare, pp. comparatus, prepare, provide, ar- 
range: see compare 2 .] Provision; the act of 
providing or making ready. Cockeram. 
cqmparatival (kom-par-a-tl'val or kom-par'a- 
ti-val), a. [< comparative + -dl.] In gram., of 
the 'comparative degree. 
comparative (kom-par'a-tiv), a. and . [= G. 
comparatii' = Dan. Sw. komparativ = F. com- 
paratif= Pr. comparatiu =.Sp. Pg. It. compn- 
rativo, < L. comparative, < comparattts, pp. of 
cfrmparare, compare: see compare 1 , .] I. a. 
1. Estimated by comparison; not positive or 
absolute ; relative. 
The blossom is a positive good : the remove of it, to give 
place to the fruit, a comparative good. Bacon. 
If they were not in a state of knowledge and virtue, they 
were at least in one of comparative innocence. 
Mary. Fuller, Woman in 19th Cent., p. 133. 
2. Proceeding by comparison; founded on com- 
parison ; especially, founded on the comparison 
or the parallel pursuit of different branches of 
the same science or study: as, comparative 
anatomy ; comparative grammar. 
The use of the comparative method, long ago applied 
superficially and partially to History, has now become, 
owing to its employment in other fields of work, far more 
valuable and remunerative. 
Stuabs, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 46. 
3. Making use of comparison or the compara- 
tive method. [Rare.] 
