Companionship

How to spell companionship

13 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce companionship

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does companionship mean?

1. nounThe pleasant feeling of having company, or a friendly relationship in which people spend time together.

Companionship in a sentence

• The dog gave her welcome companionship through the long winter evenings.

• Many people join the walking club as much for the companionship as for the exercise.

Where does companionship come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word grows from the Latin companio, which literally meant 'one who eats bread with you', formed from com- meaning 'together with' and panis meaning 'bread'. The image is wonderfully homely: a companion was originally a messmate, the person you broke bread alongside. The noun passed into Old French as compaignon and then into English in the 1300s as 'companion'. To this medieval borrowing English later added the native Old English suffix -ship, which marks a state or condition (as in friendship and hardship), giving 'companionship', the condition of having a companion. Remembering the buried 'pan' (the Latin bread, the same root inside 'pantry') helps fix the single 'p' and the -ion in the middle of the word.

How the word is built

• com- (together)
• panion (from Latin panis: bread, hence 'one who shares bread')
• -ship (state or condition)