company

Wikipedia

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /ˈkʌmpəni/ SAMPA: /"kVmp@ni/

• Audio (UK)

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• (US) IPA: /ˈkʌmpni/ SAMPA: "kVmpni

• Audio (US)

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Etymology

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.

Noun

company (countable and uncountable; plural companies)

1. A group of individuals with a common purpose

   a company of actors.

2. (law, business) An entity that manufactures or sells products (also known as goods), or provides services as a commercial venture. A corporation.
3. (business) Any business, without respect to incorporation.
4. (uncountable) Social visitors.
   • Keep the house clean, I have company coming.
5. (uncountable) companionship.
   • I treasure your company.
6. (military) A unit of approximately sixty to one hundred and twenty soldiers, typically consisting of two or three platoons and forming part of a battalion.
   • The Boys in Company C.
7. A unit of firefighters and their equipment.
   • It took six companies to put out the fire.
8. (nautical) The entire crew of a ship.
9. (espionage) Nickname for an intelligence service.
   • As he had worked for the CIA for over 30 years, he would soon take retirement from the company.

Synonyms

• corporation

Derived terms

Derived terms

a man is known by the company he keeps British East India Company companiate company clinic company doctor company front company man company officer company seal company-specific risk company time company town company union fast company fire company growth company holding company in-company incorporated company insurance company

intracompany investment company joint-stock company keep somebody company listed company limited liability company livery company management company mutual company offshore company parent company private company quoted company shell company sister company stock company the company title company trust company two's company, three's a crowd you don't dip your pen in company ink

Related terms

• accompany
• companion
• discompany

Translations

in legal context, a corporation

Afrikaans: maatskappy (af) Arabic: شَرِكة (ar) (sharika) Armenian: ընկերություն (hy) (ënkerut'yun) Bengali: কম্পনী (bn) (kōmpāni) Bulgarian: корпорация (bg) f. Catalan: companyia (ca) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 公司 (cmn) (gōngsī) Croatian: tvrtka (hr), kompanija (hr), poduzeće (hr) Czech: společnost (cs) f. Danish: virksomhed (da) Dutch: bedrijf (nl) n., zaak (nl) f., firma (nl) f. Finnish: yhtiö (fi) French: société (fr) f., entreprise (fr) f., firme (fr) f., compagnie (fr) f. German: Gesellschaft (de) f., Firma (de) f., Unternehmen (de) n. Greek: εταιρεία (el) (etereía) f., εταιρία (el) (etería) f. Hebrew: חברה (he) (khevra) f. Hindi: समवाय (hi) (samavāya), कंपनी (hi) (kampanī) f. Indonesian: perusahaan (id) Interlingua: compania (ia) Japanese: 会社 (ja) (かいしゃ, kaisha) Korean: 회사 (ko) (hoesa) (會社 (ko)) Kurdish: şirket (ku) f., pargîdanî (ku) f., fîrma (ku) f., kompanya (ku) f., şirîke (ku) f.

Latvian: sabiedrība (lv) f., kompānija (lv) f. Lithuanian: bendrovė (lt) f., kompanija (lt) f. Luhya: kampuni Norwegian: Bokmål: selskap (no) Nynorsk: selskap (nn) Polish: firma (pl) f., przedsiębiorstwo (pl) n. Portuguese: companhia (pt) f. Romanian: societate (ro) f., firmă (ro) f., companie (ro) f., întreprindere (ro) f. Russian: компания (ru) (kompánija) f., фирма (ru) (fírma) f., общество (ru) (óbščestvo) n., товарищество (ru) (továriščestvo) n. Scottish Gaelic: companaidh (gd) m. and f. Sinhalese: කොම්පැනිය (si) (kompäniya) Spanish: empresa (es) f. Swahili: kampuni (sw) Swedish: verksamhet (sv), bolag (sv) Thai: บริษัท (th) (bor-rí-sàt) Turkish: işletme (tr) Ukrainian: товариство (uk) (towarýstvo) n., діло (uk) (dílo) n., компанія (uk) (kompánija) f. Urdu: کمپنی (ur) (kampanī) f. Vietnamese: công ty (vi) (公司 (vi))

in non-legal context, any business, without respect to incorporation

Afrikaans: maatskappy (af) Arabic: شَرِكة (ar) (sharika) Egyptian Arabic: شركة (shirka(t)) Bulgarian: компания (bg) f., фирма (bg) f. Chinese: trad. 企業, simpl. 企业 (pinyin: qǐyè) Finnish: yritys (fi), liike (fi) Japanese: 企業 (ja) (きぎょう, kigyō)

Russian: компания (ru) (kompánija) f., фирма (ru) (fírma) f., общество (ru) (óbščestvo) n., товарищество (ru) (továriščestvo) n. Scottish Gaelic: cuideachd (gd) f., companaidh (gd) m. and f. Swahili: kampuni (sw) Swedish: företag (sv), firma (sv)

group of individuals with a common purpose

Afrikaans: geselskap (af) Bulgarian: компания (bg) f., общество (bg) n. Catalan: companyia (ca) f. Dutch: gezelschap (nl) n. Finnish: ryhmä (fi) French: compagnie (fr) f. German: Gesellschaft (de) f. Greek: συντροφιά (el) (sintrofiá) f. Interlingua: compania (ia)

Portuguese: companhia (pt) f. Romanian: companie (ro) f. Russian: общество (ru) (óbščestvo) n., товарищество (ru) (továriščestvo) n. Scottish Gaelic: cuideachd (gd) f. Spanish: compañía (es) f. Swahili: kampuni (sw) Turkish: dernekçi (tr) Ukrainian: товариство (uk) (towarystwo) n.

social visitors

Afrikaans: besoek (af), besoekers (af) Bulgarian: гости (bg) pl. Czech: společnost (cs) f. Dutch: bezoek (nl) n., bezoekers (nl) m. pl. Finnish: vieraat (fi) pl. French: compagnie (fr) f.

Japanese: 訪問者 (ja) (ほうもんしゃ, hōmonsha) Russian: компания (ru) (kompánija) f., гости (ru) (gósti) pl. Scottish Gaelic: cuideachd (gd) f. Turkish: dernek (tr) Ukrainian: товариство (uk) (towarystwo) n.

companionship

Afrikaans: geselskap (af) Bulgarian: компания (bg) f. Catalan: companyia (ca) f. Croatian: društvo (hr) Dutch: gezelschap (nl) n. Finnish: kumppanuus (fi) French: compagnie (fr) f. German: Gesellschaft (de) f. Greek: συντροφικότητα (el) (sintrofikótita) f., παρέα (el) (paréa) f., φιλία (el) (filía) f.

Interlingua: compania (ia) Irish: cumann (ga) m. Japanese: 仲間 (ja) (なかま, nakama) Mandarin: 同伴 (cmn) Portuguese: companhia (pt) f. Russian: компания (ru) (kompánija) f., общество (ru) (óbščestvo) n. Scottish Gaelic: cuideachd (gd) f. Swahili: kampuni (sw) Turkish: dernek (tr) Ukrainian: товариство (uk) (towarystwo) n.

military unit

Bulgarian: рота (bg) f. Cantonese: 連 (yue) Chinese: Traditional: 連隊 Simplified: 连队 Finnish: komppania (fi) German: Kompanie (de) f. Greek: λόχος (el) (lóhos) m. Hebrew: פלוגה (he) (plugá) f.

Indonesian: kompi (id) Japanese: 中隊 (ja) (ちゅうたい, chūtai) Mandarin: 連 (cmn) , liánduì (cmn) Polish: kompania (pl) f. Romanian: companie (ro) f. Russian: рота (ru) (róta) f. Scottish Gaelic: cuideachd (gd) f. Ukrainian: сотня (uk) (sotn'a) f.

unit of firefighters and their equipment

Finnish: palokunta (fi) Japanese: 消防隊 (ja) (しょうぼうたい, shōbōtai)

Polish: kompania (pl) f. Ukrainian: ланка (uk) (lanka) f.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Indonesian: perusahaan

Verb

company (third-person singular simple present companies, present participle companying, simple past and past participle companied)

1. (archaic) To accompany, keep company with.
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Acts X:

     Ye dooe knowe howe thatt hytt ys an unlawefull thynge for a man beynge a iewe to company or come unto an alient [...].

   • 1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska 2005, p. 2:

     it was with a distinctly fallen countenance that his father hearkened to his mother's parenthetical request to “’bide hyar an’ company leetle Moses whilst I be a-milkin’ the cow.”

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: persons · wrote · chief · #611: company · sweet · duty · heavy