Companion \Com*pan"ion\, n. [F. compagnon, OF. compaing, fr. an
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. [Cf. OSp. compa[~n]a 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.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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