Definition of CAMARADERIE

Get Friendly With the History of Camaraderie

Camaraderie made its first appearance in English in the middle of the 19th century. It comes from camarade, the French word whose Middle French ancestor was also the source for our word comrade. In Middle French, camarade was used to mean "roommate," "companion," or "a group sleeping in one room." It derived by way of Old Spanish from the Late Latin camera, or camara, meaning "chamber." We also have the word comradery, which means the same thing as camaraderie but did not take the same etymological route as its synonym. That word, formed by attaching the -ry suffix (as found in wizardry and citizenry) to comrade, didn't appear in English until almost 40 years after camaraderie.

Examples of camaraderie in a Sentence

It is about the camaraderie of troops bound for Vietnam who as their leader warns, have one another and nothing but one another when they fall into hell. — Stanley Kauffmann, New Republic, 25 Mar. 2002 … men on the sunny side of middle age, physical, competitive, used to the quick camaraderie of the team, be it a firefighting squad or a trading desk. — Robert Lipsyte, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2002 Except for occasional bursts of camaraderie, which came like thunderstorms, we were never close. — W. P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe, 1982 The best of adolescence was the intense male friendships—not only because of the cozy feelings of camaraderie they afforded … but because of the opportunity they provided for uncensored talk. — Philip Roth, Reading Myself and Others, 1975 There is great camaraderie among the teammates. They have developed a real camaraderie after working together for so long.

Recent Examples on the Web

As the founder and captain of the ever-irreverent (and empowering) L.A. City Municipal Dance Squad, Trimbur is no stranger to spirit—or a want of camaraderie. — Calin Van Paris, Vogue, "This Los Angeles Dance Captain—And Breast Cancer Survivor—Has a Game Plan for Hair Loss and Chemotherapy," 11 Oct. 2018 The company clearly wants to build some sort of camaraderie among students — users can react to things during class with emoji, too. — Ashley Carman, The Verge, "This $1,500 mirror streams live fitness classes to compete with Peloton and ClassPass," 6 Sep. 2018 Their moment of camaraderie came at a moment of high political tension, yet the duo's ability to look past party lines and see the humanity behind the politics served as an inspiration to many. — Lauren Hubbard, Town & Country, "A Brief History of George W. Bush and Michelle Obama's Friendship," 4 Sep. 2018 Their glow, which keeps growing brighter since the group first debuted in 2015, is due to a seamless combination of camaraderie, passion, and, for all intents and purposes, amazing skin. — Devon Abelman, Allure, "K-Pop Group Monsta X Reveals the Skin-Care Tips That Make Their Complexions "Shine Forever"," 27 July 2018 The tour, which melded ska, punk, skating and other DIY subcultures in a wave of camaraderie, volume and sweat, has been going every summer since 1995. — John Adamian, courant.com, "Britney Spears, Tory Lanez, Kimya Dawson: Seven Concert Highlights," 7 July 2018 Elation gets tangled with relief, and with this sense of camaraderie, and with the unmistakable power of something ending. — Rob Mahoney, SI.com, "Breakaway: Inside the Life of Future Lottery Pick Mikal Bridges," 15 June 2018 After the North American bid was declared the landslide winner in a 134 to 65 vote of the member associations of FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, the three nations’ leaders issued statements offering a rare sense of camaraderie. — Kevin Sieff, Washington Post, "Mexicans and Canadians cheer winning World Cup bid despite tensions with U.S.," 13 June 2018 Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable as well as providing an atmosphere of friendliness, goodwill and camaraderie for all members. — Staff Report, Houston Chronicle, "Fort Bend Junior Service League welcoming new members for 2018-19," 12 June 2018

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