compatriot
Americannoun
-
compatriots
plural
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:
Francis Ford Coppola decamped there to write his script for “The Godfather,” and it’s where his compatriot George Lucas conjured up the “Star Wars” universe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Jack Kerouac sought enlightenment there; his compatriot Neal Cassady was imprisoned there, in San Quentin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch is "very happy" to see compatriot Guy Pearce play him in a new, largely sympathetic movie about his early business life, the actor said on Wednesday.
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
Together with his powerful compatriot, Agrippa witnesses—and helps bring about—the destruction of the Roman Republic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
He looked a great deal as his compatriot must have looked when he saw the promised land.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
In an interview with Bill Moyers shared by the Berry Center in 2025, Berry said that he and his compatriots had had enough of the state government ceding control of resources to the coal companies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
Spending her Saturday not in uniform but in a T-shirt and jeans, she would like to enjoy a coffee outside -- and resents that her more religious compatriots think otherwise.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
But Romero said he, like many of his compatriots, is in the dark over the objectives of the negotiations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
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
Now the Grand Elder sat in his favorite chair and glowered at his compatriots.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
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.
