COMPANION

companion. Companion, n. a partner, comrade, associate, the porch or cover of the entrance into a cabin

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Com‐pan″ion (?), n. [[F. compagnon, OF. compaing, fr. an assumed LL. companio (cf. companium fellowship, a mess), fr. L. com- + panis bread. See Pantry.]] 1. 1. One who accompanies or is in company with another for a longer or shorter period, either from choice or casually; one who is much in the company of, or is associated with, another or others; an associate; a comrade; a consort; a partner.
The companions of his fall. Milton. The companion of fools shall smart for it. Prov. xiii. 20 (Rev. Ver.). Here are your sons again; and I must lose Two of the sweetest companions in the world. Shak. A companion is one with whom we share our bread; a messmate. Trench. 2. 2. A knight of the lowest rank in certain orders; as, a companion of the Bath.
3. 3. A fellow; — in contempt. Shak.
4. 4. [[Cf. OSp. compaña an outhouse, office.]] (Naut.) (a) A skylight on an upper deck with frames and sashes of various shapes, to admit light to a cabin or lower deck. (b) A wooden hood or penthouse covering the companion way; a companion hatch.
Companion hatch (Naut.), a wooden porch over the entrance or staircase of the cabin. — Companion ladder (Naut.), the ladder by which officers ascend to, or descend from, the quarter-deck. Totten. — Companion way (Naut.), a staircase leading to the cabin. — Knights companions, in certain honorary orders, the members of the lowest grades as distinguished from knights commanders, knights grand cross, and the like. Syn. — Associate; comrade; mate; compeer; partner; ally; confederate; coadjutor; accomplice.