accompany

verb ac·com·pa·ny \ ə-ˈkəmp-nē , -ˈkämp- ; -ˈkəm-pə- , -ˈkäm- \

Definition of accompany

accompanied; accompanying

transitive verb

1 :to go with as an associate or companion

She accompanied me to the store.

2 :to perform an accompaniment to or for

He will be accompanying her on the piano.

3 a :to cause to be in association

accompanied their advice with a warning

b :to be in association with

the pictures that accompany the text

intransitive verb

music :to perform an accompaniment

See accompany defined for English-language learners

See accompany defined for kids

Examples of accompany in a Sentence

She will accompany me to the store.
Ten adults accompanied the class on their field trip.
Children under 17 must be accompanied by an adult to see this movie.
A delicious sauce accompanied the grilled fish.
He will be accompanying her on the piano.

Recent Examples of accompany from the Web

From this point forward, no tweet drawing an analogy to a past president should be considered worthy of a retweet if it is not accompanied by the certificate that will be awarded upon successful completion of the quiz below.

— philip bump, Washington Post, "Should you be tweeting about presidential history? A quiz.," 30 Aug. 2017
Donlon’s excited by the festival, but that enthusiasm is accompanied by a sense of loss.

— rick kogan, chicagotribune.com, "Baseball drama 'High & Outside' is loaded with talent, and it was Geoffrey Lewis' last film," 28 Aug. 2017
All dogs must be up to date on their vaccines and be accompanied by their owners at all times.

— kirby adams, The Courier-Journal, "With summer almost over, dogs welcome to swim at these Louisville pools," 28 Aug. 2017
An Old Fashioned should be prepared and served in its namesake glass, a low tumbler, accompanied (ideally) by a large ice cube.

— sam dangremond, Town & Country, "What's the Difference Between an Old Fashioned and a Manhattan Cocktail?," 21 Aug. 2017
Nick Saban seemed miffed by his team's performance in a practice that was accompanied by high temperatures.

— rainer sabin, AL.com, "Alabama practice report: Star player not spotted," 18 Aug. 2017
Applicants must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, including those between 18 and 20 years old.

— allison sampite-montecalvo, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Deadline for Chula Vista PD explorers program approaching," 17 Aug. 2017
If there's less than a half teaspoon of blood and it's accompanied by some pain and discomfort down there, Watson says the bleeding is probably caused by internal hemorrhoids and needs to be checked out.

— tehrene firman, Redbook, "12 Things Your Poop Says About Your Health," 15 Aug. 2017
Our songs aren’t accompanied by tracks, just occasional piano.

— rachel hoge, Longreads, "How to Stop Apologizing for My Stutter, and Other Important Lessons," 4 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'accompany.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of accompany

Middle English accompanien "to make (someone) a companion or associate, be in company with, attend," borrowed from Anglo-French acumpainer, acompaigner "to join together, frequent, keep the company of," from a-, prefix forming transitive verbs (going back to Latin ad- ad-) + cumpaing, cumpaignun ¹companion

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First Known Use: 15th century

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