compagnon

French

Etymology

From Old French compaignon, from Late Latin compāniō (literally “he with whom one shares one's bread”) (compare Italian compagnone, Spanish compañón), from com- (“with”) + pānis (“bread”), first attested in the Frankish Lex Salica as a calque of a Germanic word represented by Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐌰 (gahlaiba, “messmate”) from 𐌲𐌰- (ga-, “with”) + 𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍆𐍃 (hlaifs, “bread”), Old High German galeipo, itself from Proto-Germanic *ga- (“togetherness”) + *hlaibaz (“loaf, bread”). Compare with the etymologically related terms copain and compagnie. More at co-, loaf.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.pa.ɲɔ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

compagnon m (plural compagnons, feminine compagne)

1. lifelong partner

   Synonyms: mari, femme, partenaire, conjoint, conjointe

2. companion
3. friend, buddy, pal

   Synonyms: ami, copain, pot, (Quebec) chum

Derived terms

• compagnon d'infortune

Related terms

• compagnie
• copain

Descendants

• → Danish: kompagnon
• → German: Kompagnon

Further reading

• “compagnon” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).