Com‐pan″ion (?), n. [F. compagnon, OF. compaing, fr. an assumed LL. companio (cf. companium fellowship, a mess), fr. L. com- + panis bread. See Pantry.] 1. One who accompanies or is in company with another for a longer or shorter period, either from choice or casually; one who is much in the company of, or is associated with, another or others; an associate; a comrade; a consort; a partner.
The companions of his fall.
Milton.
The companion of fools shall smart for it.
Prov. xiii. 20 (Rev. Ver.).
Here are your sons again; and I must lose
Two of the sweetest companions in the world.
Shak.
A companion is one with whom we share our bread; a messmate.
Trench.
2. A knight of the lowest rank in certain orders; as, a companion of the Bath.
3. A fellow; — in contempt. Shak.
4. [Cf. OSp. compaña an outhouse, office.] (Naut.) (a) A skylight on an upper deck with frames and sashes of various shapes, to admit light to a cabin or lower deck. (b) A wooden hood or penthouse covering the companion way; a companion hatch.
Companion hatch(Naut.), a wooden porch over the entrance or staircase of the cabin. — Companion ladder(Naut.), the ladder by which officers ascend to, or descend from, the quarter-deck. Totten. — Companion way(Naut.), a staircase leading to the cabin. — Knights companions, in certain honorary orders, the members of the lowest grades as distinguished from knights commanders, knights grand cross, and the like.
Syn. — Associate; comrade; mate; compeer; partner; ally; confederate; coadjutor; accomplice.