compatriot
Americannoun
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of compatriot
From the Late Latin word compatriōta, dating back to 1605–15. See com-, patriot
Explanation
A compatriot is a person from the same country as you. Don't confuse it with patriot, which means someone with notable love for his country. The word compatriot is often used to suggest an automatic sense of friendship. All compatriots are assumed to be chummy with each other — though, in fact, there's nothing in the dictionary definition to suggest this. Compatriots may — and often do — loathe each other, as countless civil wars have demonstrated.
Vocabulary lists containing compatriot
Not Your Father's Word List: Pater, Patr
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Outliers
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Fidel Castro (1926-2016) Memorial List
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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:
McColgan will line-up alongside compatriot Megan Keith, who broke the European 10k road record in Spain earlier this year.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Versus Norway, it wasn’t Mbappé, but compatriot Ousmane Dembélé who piled on the scoring with a first-half hat trick.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
Kang, who also owns women's teams Washington Spirit in the United States and London City Lionesses in England, took over as club president from compatriot Textor in June 2025.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
He lost just two games in his opening-round win over compatriot Toby Samuel at Queen's, before recording what he described as the "best result" of his career against veteran Frenchman Mannarino.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
The man who hung back joined his compatriot.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
On Friday, Sept. 10, 1976, a Croat named Zvonko Bušić, his wife, Julienne, and three compatriots boarded a plane bound for Chicago.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
Evans said he had spent the week walking around the grounds of SW19, watching his compatriots and taking in the atmosphere one final time as a player.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Today’s dramatists have been extending a generous invitation to their compatriots: We’ll show you our complexity, if you’ll show us yours.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
I mean the bit about relying on the collective nobility of our compatriots.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
But the fortune-teller nods, and Bailey puts a finger on the card and pulls it away from its compatriots so it sits separately on the table.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
