companion
1 Americannoun
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a person who is frequently in the company of, associates with, or accompanies another.
my son and his two companions.
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a person employed to accompany, assist, or live with another in the capacity of a helpful friend.
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a mate or match for something.
White wine is the usual companion of fish.
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a handbook or guide.
a bird watcher's companion.
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a member of the lowest rank in an order of knighthood or of a grade in an order.
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Also called companion star, comes. Astronomy. the fainter of the two stars that constitute a double star.
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Obsolete. a fellow.
verb (used with object)
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companions,
present (3rd person singular)
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companioned,
past participle, past
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companioning
present participle
noun
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a person who is an associate of another or others; comrade
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(esp formerly) an employee, usually a woman, who provides company for an employer, esp an elderly woman
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one of a pair; match
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( as modifier )
a companion volume
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a guidebook or handbook
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a member of the lowest rank of any of certain orders of knighthood
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astronomy the fainter of the two components of a double star
verb
noun
Usage
What does companion mean? A companion is a person who frequently spends time with you, associates with you, or accompanies you when you go places. Pets are also commonly considered companions. The word companion implies that you spend a lot of time together. A person you call a companion can be a friend or a romantic partner. A travel companion is someone you travel with. Companionship is the state of spending time with someone or having someone to spend time with—the state of having a companion or being someone’s companion. Sometimes, a hired helper is called a companion, especially when they help to take care of an older person. Companion is sometimes also used to refer to a thing that accompanies or complements something else, such as in the phrase companion piece, which often refers to an artistic work that pairs well with another work. More specifically, a companion refers to a handbook, guidebook, or field guide (the word is especially used in the titles of such books). In astronomy, companion is used in a more specific way to refer to a companion star—the less bright star in a set of stars called a double star. (The brighter star is called the primary.)Example: People make fun of older people for using dating sites, but the truth is that a lot of them are just lonely and looking for a companion.
Synonym Usage
See acquaintance.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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companionsimple
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companionssimple
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have companionedperfect
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has companionedperfect
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am companioningprogressive
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are companioningprogressive
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is companioningprogressive
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have been companioningperfect progressive
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has been companioningperfect progressive
Past
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companionedsimple
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had companionedperfect
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was companioningprogressive
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were companioningprogressive
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had been companioningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of companion1
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English compainoun, from Anglo-French; Old French compaignon, from Late Latin compāniōn- (stem of compāniō ) “messmate,” equivalent to com- “with, together” + pān(is) “bread” + -iōn- noun suffix; presumably as translation of a Germanic word; compare Gothic gahlaiba, Old High German galeipo; see com-, -ion
Origin of companion2
First recorded in 1730–40; alteration of Dutch kampanje “quarterdeck,” possibly from Italian compagna “pantry (of a ship)”
Explanation
A companion is one who serves as a friend or partner in something. Whether it’s travel or dinner or card-playing, your companion is the one who does it with you. The word companion is a close, um, companion to the word company, and you might as well say that someone you keep company with is your companion. Sometimes, it describes a piece of art or other work that goes with another. For instance, you might read a biography of Emily Dickenson as a companion to her studying her poems. The things go together and complement each other.
Vocabulary lists containing companion
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Giorgio Armani's niece, Silvana Armani, remains as head of women's design at the Armani Group, with the designer's longtime companion, designer Leo Dell'Orco, leading men's.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
Researchers identified a pattern in which surviving pack members repeatedly returned to the same location, a behaviour that often signals the death of a companion.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
The batch of new legislation includes Senate Bill 1119, which would require companion chatbot operators to assess risks, notify parents in certain cases if their child threatened to harm themselves, and take other safety steps.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
“Watching Heaven Fall” opens with a twangy acoustic guitar refrain and goes on to describe a now-lost companion jumping trains and pumping gas in an attempt to outrun his past.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
After that, Clare had spent many days searching the woods for his missing companion, calling his name, even venturing so close to the human road that he could feel the unsettling whoosh of cars.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Like his nearby European companions and many other hybrid figures, he is a character of contrasts—power and fear, life and death, human and animal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Most care deeply about their avian companions and believe feeding them is helpful.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
A New England frontiersman and ‘49er called “Grizzly Adams” — a name we likely know from a 1970s television show — tamed and trained a couple of young grizzlies as his companions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Cuaya and Hernández-Pérez also hope their findings will help show people to communicate more effectively with their own beloved canine companions.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Klavdiya and her companions threw on their clothes in the dark and ran to the airfield.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
It should be companioned with a key and a glossary like the Berlitz books.
From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2021
He sat at the end of the table companioned only by his wife, the conservative journalist Barbara Amiel.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 1, 2016
"All I want is for people, when they read my books, to feel companioned, to feel they're not alone in the world," she says.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 16, 2013
A creature like Toad is not a tree, but is designed to move across earth's surface, perpendicular to gravity and companioned by time.
From Time Magazine Archive
This generation has companioned Death too closely to see him again quite as the hooded terror of old.
From Leaves in the Wind by A. G. (Alfred George) Gardiner
What a noble countenance! at once austere and gracious—haughty and benign—of a man conscious of his greatness while yet companioning with the humble—an unrecognised power dwelling in the woods.
From Recreations of Christopher North, Volume I (of 2) by John Lyde Wilson
She chattered away, these last few precious moments, as merrily as if Timothy were companioning the adventure of this trip to Lewisburg, but he found no tongue to reply.
From The Heart of Arethusa by Frances Barton Fox
If all of us sincerely and practically united in trusting and companioning them,—so sincerely as to convince them of the fact—I would have small misgivings.
From The Subterranean Brotherhood by Julian Hawthorne
Neither Ellaline nor Emily had suggested companioning me, and though I must say I had thought of proposing it to Ellaline, I hadn't found the courage.
From Set in Silver by A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson
Some take the words "which followed them" to mean that the spiritual rock accompanied the children of Israel, companioning with them—"comitante petra," not "petra consequente," Christ being spiritually present in the word and by faith.
From Epistle Sermons, Vol. II Epiphany, Easter and Pentecost by John Nicholas Lenker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
