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 of comrade

• associate
• colleague
• friend
• buddy
• accomplice
• fellow
• companion
• peer
• classmate
• compatriot
• cohort

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

Neal would see other comrades killed in the missions that followed, including a chief engineer whose oxygen tube got tangled up mid-flight. —Brad Schmitt, Nashville Tennessean, 11 Nov. 2025

While the Dolphins had the typical errors that have cost the team numerous fourth-quarter wins this season, a 16-0 halftime lead was too much for Josh Allen and his comrades to overcome. —Miami Herald, 9 Nov. 2025

The men – sons, brothers, fathers, husbands and friends – were connected to dozens of families and a number of comrades in the shipping and freight industry. —Doyle Rice, USA Today, 9 Nov. 2025

The horror and heartbreak of seeing a comrade fall. —Michael James Rocha, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Nov. 2025

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

Rhymes for comrade

• dryad
• dyad
• forbad
• grandad
• granddad
• keypad
• nomad
• notepad
• postgrad
• sinbad
• tetrad
• triad

Kids Definition

comrade

noun

com·​rade ˈkäm-ˌrad 

-rəd

: a close friend or associate

comradely adjective

comradeship

-ˌship 

noun