Company

//ˈkʌmp(ə)ni// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 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. 2
    an institution created to conduct business wordnet
  3. 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. 4
    a unit of firefighters including their equipment wordnet
  5. 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
  1. 6
    a social gathering of guests or companions wordnet
  2. 7
    A team; a group of people who work together professionally.; The entire crew of a ship. countable, uncountable
  3. 8
    organization of performers and associated personnel (especially theatrical) wordnet
  4. 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."

  5. 10
    small military unit; usually two or three platoons wordnet
  6. 11
    A small group of birds or animals. countable, uncountable
  7. 12
    crew of a ship including the officers; the whole force or personnel of a ship wordnet
  8. 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"

  9. 14
    a band of people associated temporarily in some activity wordnet
  10. 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."

  11. 16
    a social or business visitor wordnet
  12. 17
    Social visitors or companions. uncountable

    "Keep the house clean; I have company coming."

  13. 18
    the state of being with someone wordnet
  14. 19
    adversaries, enemies, or rivals; unwanted company. countable, uncountable

    "looks like we've got company"

  15. 20
    Companionship. uncountable

    "I treasure your company."

Verb
  1. 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. 2
    be a companion to somebody wordnet
  3. 3
    To associate. archaic, intransitive

    "Men which have companied with us all the time."

  4. 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. 5
    To have sexual intercourse. intransitive, obsolete

    "companying with Infidels may not be simply condemned"

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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.

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