companio
This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 23 October 2026 at 04:05. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Pronunciation
Forms
compāniō m (genitive compāniōnis); third declension[1]
Etymology
It is from Latin con- (“with”) + pānis (“bread”) + -ō, literally “one who shares bread”,[1][2][3] a calque of Proto-West Germanic *gahlaibō (“messmate”).[1] Etymonline also takes it as a translation of a Germanic word.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
It is first found in the Frankish Lex Salica,[3][1] which fixes the penalty for one who kills a man among his companiones while on campaign; there it means a comrade, a member of the same mess.[4][5]
Semantic evolution
The word stayed rare in Latin texts,[5][4] but lived on in Old French compaignon, whence French compagnon, Italian compagno and English companion;[3][2][6] Old Norse borrowed it as kompánn.[2]
Timeline
- 6th century – The Lex Salica uses it of a comrade in arms.[3][4]
- c. 1300 – English companion is borrowed from Old French, which inherited it from this word.[3]
Meanings
Noun
Related words
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
- ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
- ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier