accompanied; accompanying
Synonyms of accompany

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

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 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.
Extensive verification testing accompanied the improvements, allowing engineers to introduce additional capabilities through software updates. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 11 Nov. 2026 Among those accompanying him are Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Zelenskyy's office, and Davyd Arakhamia, the head of Zelenskyy's party in the Ukrainian parliament. — David Brennan, ABC News, 10 Nov. 2026 But the decline is not yet fast enough to be durable, an accompanying study published in the journal Nature found. — Chloé Farand, semafor.com, 10 Nov. 2026 Flores Garcia was accompanying her mother for the check-in, but chose to stay with her when ICE chose to bring her into custody, according to Saavedra. — CBS News, 10 Nov. 2026 See All Example Sentences for accompany

Word History

Etymology

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 companion entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of accompany was in the 15th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Accompany.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accompany. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

Kids Definition

accompany

verb
accompanied; accompanying
1
: to go with or attend as a companion
2
: to perform an accompaniment to or for
3
: to occur at the same time as or along with
a thunderstorm accompanied by high winds
Etymology

Middle English accompanien "to accompany," from early French acompaigner (same meaning), from a- "to" and cumpaing "companion," from Latin companio "companion" — related to companion, company

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