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

Smith is a comrade from Mexico, a character, to whom the song was written. —Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 27 Oct. 2024

That crucially includes any potential leftovers, as no one should ever benefit from the murder of a comrade. —David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 2 Oct. 2024

Vitaly recalls a particularly brutal drone attack on a comrade. —Sebastian Shukla, CNN, 11 Sep. 2024

Yet Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão—a former revolutionary comrade—have invested enormous political capital into local refining, with Gusmão in particular seeing Tasi Mane as his personal legacy. —Charlie Campbell / Dili, Timor-Leste, TIME, 4 Sep. 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