Company
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 A team; a group of people who work together professionally.; A group of individuals who work together for a common purpose. countable, uncountable
"a company of actors"
- 2 an institution created to conduct business wordnet
- 3 A team; a group of people who work together professionally.; A unit of approximately sixty to one hundred and twenty soldiers, typically consisting of two or three platoons and forming part of a battalion. countable, uncountable
"the boys in Company C"
- 4 a unit of firefighters including their equipment wordnet
- 5 A team; a group of people who work together professionally.; A unit of firefighters and their equipment. countable, uncountable
"It took six companies to put out the fire."
Show 15 more definitions
- 6 a social gathering of guests or companions wordnet
- 7 A team; a group of people who work together professionally.; The entire crew of a ship. countable, uncountable
- 8 organization of performers and associated personnel (especially theatrical) wordnet
- 9 A team; a group of people who work together professionally.; An intelligence service. countable, informal, uncountable
"As he had worked for the CIA for over 30 years, he would soon take retirement from the company."
- 10 small military unit; usually two or three platoons wordnet
- 11 A small group of birds or animals. countable, uncountable
- 12 crew of a ship including the officers; the whole force or personnel of a ship wordnet
- 13 An entity having legal personality, and thus able to own property and to sue and be sued in its own name; a corporation. countable, uncountable
"a financial services company"
- 14 a band of people associated temporarily in some activity wordnet
- 15 Any business, whether incorporated or not, that manufactures or sells products (also known as goods), or provides services as a commercial venture. countable, uncountable
"In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […] The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra-wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised."
- 16 a social or business visitor wordnet
- 17 Social visitors or companions. uncountable
"Keep the house clean; I have company coming."
- 18 the state of being with someone wordnet
- 19 adversaries, enemies, or rivals; unwanted company. countable, uncountable
"looks like we've got company"
- 20 Companionship. uncountable
"I treasure your company."
- 1 To accompany, keep company with. archaic, transitive
"Ye dooe knowe howe thatt hytt ys an vnlawefull thynge for a man beynge a iewe to company or come vnto an alient […]."
- 2 be a companion to somebody wordnet
- 3 To associate. archaic, intransitive
"Men which have companied with us all the time."
- 4 To be a lively, cheerful companion. intransitive, obsolete
"If thee list unto the Court to throng […]there thou needs must learne, to laugh, to lie, To face, to forge, to scoffe, to companie."
- 5 To have sexual intercourse. intransitive, obsolete
"companying with Infidels may not be simply condemned"
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"If you don't want to stay alone, I can keep you company."
Etymology
From Middle English companye (“a team; companionship”), from Old French compaignie (“companionship”) (Modern French: compagnie), possibly from Late Latin *compania, but this word is not attested. Old French compaignie is equivalent to Old French compaignon (Modern French: compagnon) + -ie. More at companion. Displaced native Old English werod, gefer, getæl, and hired.
Related phrases
More for "company"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.