company
Pluralcompanies
Pluralcompanies
Formscompanies, companying, companied
- 1A business that makes or sells things or provides services.
Like a lemonade stand, but bigger: it makes or sells things to earn money.
She started a small company that sells handmade candles.
The company employs nearly two hundred workers.
UsageSay work for a company.
Similarbusiness, firm, corporation, enterprise, concern
Note
- 2The good feeling of having someone with you.
Like how a room feels warmer when someone is sitting with you.
I keep a dog for company when I'm home alone.
She enjoys the company of her old friends.
UsageSay keep someone company or for company.
Similarcompanionship, presence, fellowship
Oppositesolitude, loneliness
Note
- 3
- 4A group of people together, often doing something for the same purpose.
Like a group of friends who team up to finish a big job.
A small company of volunteers cleaned up the park.
A cheerful company of hikers sang as they walked up the trail.
UsageSay a company of actors or a dance company.
Similargroup, band, troupe, party, body
Note
- 5A group of about sixty to a hundred soldiers in an army.
Like a large team of soldiers, bigger than a small squad but part of an army.
The company marched for three days to reach the border.
His brother joined an infantry company last spring.
UsageWrite Company C with capitals.
Note
Less common meanings
- 6
- 7All the people who work on a ship.
Like the whole team that runs a ship, from the captain to the cook.
The ship's company gathered on deck for the captain's orders.
The whole company worked through the night to repair the hull.
UsageUsually ship's company.
Similarcrew, complement
Note
- 8
- 9A secret government group that gathers information, also called a spy agency.
Like a secret group whose job is to find out what other countries are doing.
The spy said the Company had sent him overseas on a secret mission.
The Company never admitted that the operation had taken place.
UsageWrite the Company with a capital C.
Note
- 10To go with someone or spend time with them.
Her maid would company her on every journey.
it was with a distinctly fallen countenance that his father hearkened to his mother's parenthetical request to “’bide hyar an’ company leetle Moses whilst I be a-milkin’ the cow.”
1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" CountryHere, company means to stay with someone and keep them company.Note
- 11To act as a fun, cheerful friend to others.
Note
- 12To have sexual relations, usually with another person.
Note
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From Old French compaignie meaning "companionship," which came into Middle English. It may go back to a Late Latin word, but that word is not proven.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Company derives from Old French compaignie, meaning companionship. en.wiktionary.org
- The Old French word entered Middle English. en.wiktionary.org
- A possible Late Latin ancestor is reconstructed but unattested. en.wiktionary.org