company

American  

[kuhm-puh-nee] / ˈkʌm pə ni /

noun

• companies
  plural

1. a number of individuals assembled or associated together; group of people.

   Synonyms:

   body, assemblage, group

2. a guest or guests.

   We're having company for dinner.

3. an assemblage of persons for social purposes.

   Synonyms:

   crowd, gathering

4. companionship; fellowship; association.

   I always enjoy her company.

5. one's usual companions.

   I don't like the company he keeps.

6. society collectively.

   Synonyms:

   corporation, house, firm

7. a number of persons united or incorporated for joint action, especially for business.

   a publishing company;

   a dance company.

8. (initial capital letter) the members of a firm not specifically named in the firm's title.

   George Higgins and Company.

9. Military.

   1. the smallest body of troops, consisting of a headquarters and two or three platoons.

   2. any relatively small group of soldiers.

   3. Army. a basic unit with both tactical and administrative functions.

10. a unit of firefighters, including their special apparatus.

    a hook-and-ladder company.

11. Also called ship's company.  a ship's crew, including the officers.

12. a medieval trade guild.

13. Informal. the Company, a nation's major intelligence-gathering and espionage organization, as the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

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verb (used without object)

• companies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• companied,
  past participle,  past
• companying
  present participle

1. Archaic. to associate.

verb (used with object)

• companies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• companied,
  past participle,  past
• companying
  present participle

1. Archaic. to accompany.

idioms

1. keep company,

   1. to associate with; be a friend of.

   2. Informal. to go together, as in courtship.

      My sister has been keeping company with a young lawyer.

2. part company,

   1. to cease association or friendship with.

      We parted company 20 years ago after the argument.

   2. to take a different or opposite view; differ.

      He parted company with his father on politics.

   3. to separate.

      We parted company at the airport.

company British  

/ ˈkʌmpənɪ /

noun

1. a number of people gathered together; assembly

2. the fact of being with someone; companionship

   I enjoy her company

3. a social visitor or visitors; guest or guests

4. a business enterprise

5. Abbreviation: Co.   co.  the members of an enterprise not specifically mentioned in the enterprise's title

6. a group of actors, usually including business and technical personnel

7. a unit of around 100 troops, usually comprising two or more platoons

8. the officers and crew of a ship

9. a unit of Girl Guides

10. English history a medieval guild

11. 1. to accompany (someone)

    2. (esp of lovers) to associate with each other; spend time together

12. 1. to end a friendship or association, esp as a result of a quarrel; separate

    2. (foll by with) to leave; go away (from); be separated (from)

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verb

1. archaic to keep company or associate (with someone)

company More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing company

• keep someone company
• misery loves company
• part company
• two's company

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Usage

What does company mean? Company refers to a group of people. Company is a common word with many different specific meanings, but they all have to do with a gathering of people or interaction among a group of people. The word company perhaps most commonly refers to a business. Energizer is a company that makes and sells batteries. When company is used in the name of a business, it is often abbreviated as Co. Company can be the guests you have over to your house. It can also refer to the presence of others: enjoying the company of your cousins. Example: Sarah likes to walk home from school in the company of her best friend, Joe.

Synonym Usage

Company, band, party, troop refer to a group of people formally or informally associated. Company is the general word and means any group of people: a company of motorists. Band, used especially of a band of musicians, suggests a relatively small group pursuing the same purpose or sharing a common fate: a concert by a band; a band of survivors. Party, except when used of a political group, usually implies an indefinite and temporary assemblage, as for some common pursuit: a spelunking party. Troop, used specifically of a body of cavalry, usually implies a number of individuals organized as a unit: a troop of cavalry.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• companyless
  adjective
• intercompany
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• companies
  plural

Participles

• companying
  present
• companied
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• company
  simple
• companies
  simple
• have companied
  perfect
• has companied
  perfect
• am companying
  progressive
• are companying
  progressive
• is companying
  progressive
• have been companying
  perfect progressive
• has been companying
  perfect progressive

Past

• companied
  simple
• had companied
  perfect
• was companying
  progressive
• were companying
  progressive
• had been companying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will company
  simple
• will have companied
  perfect
• will be companying
  progressive
• will have been companying
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of company

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French; Old French compaignie “companionship,” equivalent to compain (from Late Latin compāniō; see companion ¹) + -ie -y ³

Explanation

Company most often implies a group, whether it be a group of people, a unit of firefighters, a small group of soldiers, or a group working for the same business. Company can also refer to a visitor, often for dinner. This usage is both singular and plural, so if your mom says "there's company coming for dinner," you will need to know how many places to set at the table. There are more than a few idioms using the word company. When you are with someone, you “keep company” with them. For the more dour, there is “misery loves company."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

company companies companied companying

Artificial intelligence music company Suno is going retro — eventually.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

Piker initially came to fame a few years prior while making YouTube videos for his uncle’s media company The Young Turks.

From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026

Investigators are also examining the role of a private company that conducted parts of the examination process, after candidates raised questions about how it was selected.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

"In a private company, you can take risks more quickly," said Trotsenko, explaining how small companies were incentivised to modify and adapt at speed to win contracts.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

Warren stayed on the boat, with a tin of tar paint and an enormous brush and Ratwin for company, and Nighthand led them into the city.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

Investments in—and among—artificial intelligence companies have pushed the S&P 500 to record highs.

From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026

Thousands of lawsuits have been filed in the US seeking to hold social media companies liable for alleged harms to children and mental health.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

Just nine major tech companies plan $4.1 trillion in capex between now and 2030.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

Many companies have shifted production from China to other countries to avoid U.S. tariffs, accelerating industrialization in Southeast Asia and Latin America—a boon for Chinese factories making intermediate and capital goods.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

There were no public subprime lending companies left in America.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

It handed lucrative contracts to the country’s biggest construction companied.

From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2016

The companied initially tried to list its shares on the Hong Kong Exchange, which would seem to be a friendly home.

From Time ● Sep. 19, 2014

And presumably it is at least an implication of Bacon's dictum that our poor illiterate lonely hordes are neither companied nor "full", for reading accomplisheth fullness.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 17, 2011

Generals and admirals in varied uniforms, sun helmets, marine wool jackets, coveralls, khakis and tin hats, ac companied him on an inspection tour.

From Time Magazine Archive

I could not if I would, for I was companied with memories sharp enough to sting a soul from torpor deep as death.

From First Person Paramount by Pratt, Ambrose

These “young men and mayds” were convicted by the magistrate of “meeting at unseasonable times, and of night walking, and companying together contrary to civility and good nurture, tending to vitiate one another.”

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 4, 2018

As it turned out, the U.S. newsmen ac companying Nixon faced dangers of their own when the Caracas mobs started to swarm the next day.

From Time Magazine Archive

Sus 1:58 Now therefore tell me, Under what tree didst thou take them companying together?

From Deuterocanonical Books of the Bible Apocrypha by Anonymous

Sus 1:54 Now then, if thou hast seen her, tell me, Under what tree sawest thou them companying together?

From Deuterocanonical Books of the Bible Apocrypha by Anonymous

And companying so much with rich people would fill her mind with vanity.

From A Little Girl in Old Boston by Douglas, Amanda Minnie

Related Words

• association
• club
• community
• group
• party
• team