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

The company, which also makes drones for agricultural and other purposes, announced its entry to the defense-equipment market in March.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

There has been no change to the EA drought status or the temporary use bans in force across ten water company areas.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

In a statement Monday, the aerospace company touted its creation of "tens of thousands of jobs across the United States," with "direct employment" in more than 20 states, including Kansas, Texas, Arizona and California.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

The announcement comes about a year after Mistral AI closed an ASML-led round that gave the company an 11.7 billion-euro valuation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

After he’d married Chase’s mother, he’d started a construction company with her brother, Bob.

From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith

And water companies are reminding customers that temporary hosepipe bans are still in force despite the rainfall and decreased demand with the cooler weather.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

The new rules would also require tech companies to protect under 18s from harmful content that promotes or encourages eating disorders or hostile ideas about women and gender equality.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

"Bombardier values its great partnership with American companies and its US employees," the company's statement said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

Australia is set to force social media companies to allow users to easily opt in or out of content recommended by algorithms when they log in.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

Inaccurate data from countries with high incidences of MDR have made it difficult for pharmaceutical companies to meet demand for these drugs consistently, and therefore market prices have fluctuated.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

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

Those who companied with Tennyson through his beautiful career were helped into a growing love of purity.

From A Hero and Some Other Folks by William A. (William Alfred) Quayle

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

There is no restriction on the companying of the Father’s children, when they are gathered together in the Father’s House.”

From In Convent Walls The Story of the Despensers by M. (Madelaine) Irwin

And here she was milking and churning and feeding the hens and companying with Uncle in the barn yard.

From In Orchard Glen by Mary Esther Miller MacGregor

"It were well not to name him here," she said, "for the chief men know of his past companying with Claverhouse and other malignants, and they might distrust his honesty and yours."

From The Men of the Moss-Hags Being a history of adventure taken from the papers of William Gordon of Earlstoun in Galloway by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett

Related Words

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