comrade

noun

com·​rade ˈkäm-ˌrad 

-rəd,

 especially British  -ˌrād

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

ˈkäm-ˌrad-lē-nəs 

noun

comradely adjective

comradeship

ˈkäm-ˌrad-ˌship 

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.

Synonyms

• associate
• cohort
• companion
• compatriot
• compeer
• crony
• fellow
• hobnobber
• mate
• running mate

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

By leading his comrades to gold-medal glory, Dupont reaches a high point in a career that is perhaps only half done. —Alexander Smith, NBC News, 27 July 2024

More impressively, other bees learned to perform the same task simply by watching their comrades. —Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 4 July 2024

The multi-hyphenate, 36, has been honing the skill way before her Hollywood comrades. —Michelle Lee, Peoplemag, 5 Aug. 2024

Baldwin was always encouraging his comrades to create, to continue bringing new work into the world. —Vann R. Newkirk Ii, The Atlantic, 2 Aug. 2024

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

Phrases Containing comrade

• brother/sister/comrade in arms
• comrade in arms

Kids Definition

comrade

noun

com·​rade ˈkäm-ˌrad 

-rəd

: a close friend or associate

comradely adjective

comradeship

-ˌship 

noun