comrade

noun

com·​rade ˈkäm-ˌrad How to pronounce comrade (audio)
-rəd
especially British -ˌrād
Synonyms of comradenext
1
a
: an intimate friend or associate : companion
"… reflecting upon all my comrades that were drowned …"Daniel Defoe
b
: a fellow soldier
comrades in battle
2
[from its use as a form of address by communists] : communist
comradeliness noun
comradely adjective
comradeship noun

Did you know?

In Latin, camara or camera denoted a vaulted ceiling or roof. Later, the word simply mean “room, chamber” and was inherited by many European languages with that meaning. In the Spanish, the word became cámara, and a derivative of that was camarada “a group of soldiers quartered in a room” and hence “fellow soldier, companion.” That Spanish word was borrowed into French as camarade and then into Elizabethan English as both camerade and comerade.

Examples of comrade in a Sentence

He enjoys spending time with his old army comrades. the boy, and two others who are known to be his comrades, are wanted for questioning by the police
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Syrian authorities on Friday arrested Amjad Yousef, a former intelligence officer who appeared in a video leaked four years ago that appears to show him and his comrades executing dozens of blindfolded and shackled prisoners in the Damascus suburb of Tadamon during the civil war. Ghaith Alsayed, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2026 Syrian authorities on Friday arrested Amjad Yousef, a former intelligence officer who appeared in a video leaked four years ago that purportedly showed him and his comrades executing dozens of blindfolded and shackled prisoners in the Damascus suburb of Tadamon during the country’s civil war. ABC News, 26 Apr. 2026 Police now believe that the men who shot and killed Hughes were members of a Central Richmond gang, deadset on avenging a comrade who was gunned down in Oakland 10 days earlier. Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 25 Apr. 2026 Irina enjoys several advantages over her comrades, chief among them her past as a high-ranking KGB officer. Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for comrade

Word History

Etymology

Middle French camarade group sleeping in one room, roommate, companion, from Old Spanish camarada, from cámara room, from Late Latin camera, camara — more at chamber

First Known Use

1544, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of comrade was in 1544

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Comrade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comrade. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.

Kids Definition

comrade

noun
com·​rade ˈkäm-ˌrad How to pronounce comrade (audio)
-rəd
: a close friend or associate
comradely adjective
comradeship noun

More from Merriam-Webster on comrade

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster