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

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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

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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

The company declined to comment, but it’s easy to see what makes it a good takeover candidate.

From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2026

For nearly three years, fewer than 10 staffers at the New York-based indie film studio A24 knew that their 300-person company was making a genre-bending documentary about convicted Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

In 2015, she was suspended for a week after a video surfaced of her yelling at and belittling a towing company employee.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

Romesh then had to remind Joanne that her policy of not voting off Michael because he's "great company" is not really how the game should work.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

For a minute I felt that awful fear you can get when you think about maybe never, ever having somebody you love’s company again.

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan

"By backing British science, advanced chips and our own AI companies, we can strengthen our national security, rebuild Britain's industrial strength and create good, skilled jobs across the country."

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

The traditional endgame for successful independent film companies such as A24 is a sale to a big studio that gives them a worldwide footprint and access to capital to grow their business.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

The biggest AI companies have shown that “they’re basically willing to spend as much as they can in order to capture more customers and try and be the dominant AI player,” Rocco told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026

Deckers shares declined 4.9% and dragged down shares of rival sneaker companies, including On Holding and Nike.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

“It was sponsored by a group of renewable energy companies, including the Fūjin Corporation, which makes turbines for wind energy.”

From "City Spies" by James Ponti

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

And he had thenceforward an unweariable pupil in Nicholas, companied, albeit with less ardent zeal, and at a slower rate of progress, by his elder brother, Dan.

From Strangers at Lisconnel by Jane Barlow

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

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

From A Little Girl in Old Boston by Amanda Minnie Douglas

He grew up pleasant and polite, winsome and lovesome; a ravishment to all who saw him, and he inclined to companying with brethren and comrades and mixing with merchants and travelled men.

From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 12 [Supplement] by Sir Richard Francis Burton

You have been companying with him for many a mile upon the way.

From For the Faith by Evelyn Everett-Green

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Related Words

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

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