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.
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. [Obs.] 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.
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