Companion /(kŏm*păn"yŭn)/

Com·pan·ion

Companion

n.
  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.
    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.
    A companion is one with whom we share our bread; a messmate.
  2. A knight of the lowest rank in certain orders; as, a companion of the Bath.
  3. A fellow; -- in contempt. [Obs.]
  4. A skylight on an upper deck with frames and sashes of various shapes, to admit light to a cabin or lower deck. (Naut.)

Phrases & Compounds
Companion hatch
a wooden porch over the entrance or staircase of the cabin.
Companion ladder
the ladder by which officers ascend to, or descend from, the quarter-deck.
Companion way
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.

Companion

v. t.
  1. To be a companion to; to attend on; to accompany. [R.]
  2. To qualify as a companion; to make equal. [Obs.]
    Companion me with my mistress.