camaraderie

Etymology

It is borrowed from French camaraderie,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} from camarade (“comrade”) and the suffix -erie.^[5][9][7] The French noun is from Spanish camarada,^[4][2] originally "a chamberful" and then "a chamber-mate",^[2] from Latin camera (“vaulted room, chamber”);^[3][10] English took the same French word as comrade.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mutual trust and friendship among comrades: 1832, in the Guardian & Public Ledger.^[2] Barnhart, Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date the word to 1840, in Thackeray's writings.^[4][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word rests on the image of people sharing a room: its source comrade first meant one who shares the same room, and so a close companion.^[3][2] In English it has kept the single sense of comradely feeling or good fellowship, which the OED also equates with esprit de corps.^[2][5][11]

Timeline

• 1832 – mutual trust and friendship among comrades.^[2] Barnhart and Etymonline date it to 1840, in Thackeray.^[4][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A spirit of friendly trust and goodwill among people who work or spend time together; comradeship, fellowship: The long voyage built a strong camaraderie among the crew.^{[5][12][2][11]}

Related words

• comrade
• camera
• chamber
• comradeship

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
11. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins