Com*pan"ion (?), n. [F. compagnon, OF. compaing, fr. as 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.
[Obs.]
Shak.
4. [Cf. OSp. compana 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.
© Webster 1913.
Com*pan"ion, v. t.
1.
To be a companion to; to attend on; to accompany.
[R.]
Ruskin.
2.
To qualify as a companion; to make equal.
[Obs.]
Companion me with my mistress.
Shak.
© Webster 1913.