company

company [kuhm-puh-nee] SynonymsExamplesWord Origin noun, plural com·pa·nies.

1. a number of individuals assembled or associated together; group of people.
2. a guest or guests: We’re having company for dinner.
3. an assemblage of persons for social purposes.
4. companionship; fellowship; association: I always enjoy her company.
5. one’s usual companions: I don’t like the company he keeps.
6. society collectively.
7. a number of persons united or incorporated for joint action, especially for business: a publishing company; a dance company.
8. (initial capital letter) the members of a firm not specifically named in the firm’s title: George Higgins and Company.
9. Military.
   1. the smallest body of troops, consisting of a headquarters and two or three platoons.
   2. any relatively small group of soldiers.
   3. Army.a basic unit with both tactical and administrative functions.
10. a unit of firefighters, including their special apparatus: a hook-and-ladder company.
11. Also called ship’s company. a ship’s crew, including the officers.
12. a medieval trade guild.
13. the Company, Informal. a nation’s major intelligence-gathering and espionage organization, as the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

verb (used without object), com·pa·nied, com·pa·ny·ing.

14. Archaic. to associate.

verb (used with object), com·pa·nied, com·pa·ny·ing.

15. Archaic. to accompany.

Idioms

16. keep company,
    1. to associate with; be a friend of.
    2. Informal.to go together, as in courtship: My sister has been keeping company with a young lawyer.
17. part company,
    1. to cease association or friendship with: We parted company 20 years ago after the argument.
    2. to take a different or opposite view; differ: He parted company with his father on politics.
    3. to separate: We parted company at the airport.

Origin of company 1200–50; Middle English Anglo-French; Old French compaignie companionship, equivalent to compain (Late Latin compāniō; see companion1) + -ie -y3 Related formscom·pa·ny·less, adjectivein·ter·com·pa·ny, adjectiveSynonyms for company 1. group, assemblage, body. 3. gathering, crowd. 6. firm, house, corporation.Synonym study 1. Company, band, party, troop refer to a group of people formally or informally associated. Company is the general word and means any group of people: a company of motorists. Band, used especially of a band of musicians, suggests a relatively small group pursuing the same purpose or sharing a common fate: a concert by a band; a band of survivors. Party, except when used of a political group, usually implies an indefinite and temporary assemblage, as for some common pursuit: a spelunking party. Troop, used specifically of a body of cavalry, usually implies a number of individuals organized as a unit: a troop of cavalry. Examples from the Web for inter-company Historical Examples of inter-company

Inter-company rivalry had prevented the development of real regimental spirit.

The Old First Massachusetts Coast Artillery in War and Peace

Frederick Morse Cutler

Rank discrimination might be concealed by means of ingeniously framed systems of inter-company accounts.

Railroads: Rates and Regulations

William Z. Ripley

The 26th and 27th were days selected for inter-company reliefs.

The 28th: A Record of War Service in the Australian Imperial Force, 1915-19, Vol. I

Herbert Brayley Collett

British Dictionary definitions for inter-company company noun plural -nies

1. a number of people gathered together; assembly
2. the fact of being with someone; companionshipI enjoy her company
3. a social visitor or visitors; guest or guests
4. a business enterprise
5. the members of an enterprise not specifically mentioned in the enterprise’s titleAbbreviation: Co, co
6. a group of actors, usually including business and technical personnel
7. a unit of around 100 troops, usually comprising two or more platoons
8. the officers and crew of a ship
9. a unit of Girl Guides
10. English history a medieval guild
11. keep company or bear company
    1. to accompany (someone)
    2. (esp of lovers) to associate with each other; spend time together
12. part company
    1. to end a friendship or association, esp as a result of a quarrel; separate
    2. (foll by with)to leave; go away (from); be separated (from)

verb -nies, -nying or -nied

13. archaic to keep company or associate (with someone)

Word Origin for company C13: from Old French compaignie, from compain companion, fellow, from Late Latin compāniō; see companion 1 Word Origin and History for inter-company company n.

mid-12c., “large group of people,” from Old French compagnie “society, friendship, intimacy; body of soldiers” (12c.), from Late Latin companio (see companion). Meaning “companionship” is from late 13c. Sense of “business association” first recorded 1550s, having earlier been used in reference to trade guilds (c.1300). Meaning “subdivision of an infantry regiment” is from 1580s. Abbreviation co. dates from 1670s.

Idioms and Phrases with inter-company company

In addition to the idioms beginning with company

company man

company manners

also see:

keep someone company

misery loves company

part company

two’s company