comrade

noun

com·​rade ˈkäm-ˌrad How to pronounce comrade (audio)
-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 noun
comradely adjective
comradeship 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.

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
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.
Even after Ukraine's independence, Ukraine and Russia's spy services had remained deeply entwined, Many older officers had been trained in Moscow and some even remained close friends with their former Russian comrades. Patrick Reevell, ABC News, 17 Jan. 2025 On the canvas, two fat children watched as a third, blue-skinned comrade gleefully stole melted butter from a pot. Kanak Kapur, The New Yorker, 5 Jan. 2025 This term, the Egyptian King isn’t letting up on those contributions while providing his comrades with plenty of scoring opportunities. Henry Flynn, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024 In fact, his great comrade was Alain Sarde, who produced his films. Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 17 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for comrade 

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of comrade was in 1544

Dictionary Entries Near comrade

Cite this Entry

“Comrade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comrade. Accessed 19 Feb. 2025.

Kids Definition

comrade

noun
com·​rade ˈkäm-ˌrad How to pronounce comrade (audio)
-rəd
: a close friend or associate
comradely adjective
comradeship noun

More from Merriam-Webster on comrade

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!