companionship
(kəmˈpænjənʃɪp)
[f. companion n.1 + -ship.]
1. The state or relation of being a companion; association of persons as companions; fellowship. (Also said of things.)
| 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. John x. (R.), As there is an exact companionship of power betwene my father and me; so there is a full consent of will. 1607 Shakes. Timon i. i. 251 'Tis Alcibiades, and some twenty Horse All of Companionship. ― Cor. iii. ii. 49 That it shall hold Companionship in Peace With Honour, as in Warre. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. xiii, The desert, forest, cavern, breaker's foam, Were unto him companionship. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede 59 So as to bring the red brick into terms of friendly companionship with the limestone ornaments. 1862 Lytton Str. Story I. 116 She may miss the cheerful companionship of..young ladies of her own age. |
b. with pl.
| 1862 R. Vaughan Eng. Nonconf. 127 Amidst the felon companionships of the common jails. 1870 Lightfoot Ep. Phil. (1885) 169 To transfer to St. Peter the companionships and achievements of St. Paul. 1881 Bible (Amer. Revis.) 1 Cor. xv. 33 Evil companionships corrupt good morals. |
2. As trans. of Ger. gesellenschaft (F. compagnonnage): The state of being a journeyman.
| 1776 Adam Smith W.N. i. x. (1869) I. 127 He must..serve five years more as a journeyman. During this latter term he is called the companion of his master, and the term itself is called his companionship. |
3. A body of companions; spec. in Printing, a company of compositors working together under the management of a ‘clicker’, elected by themselves.
| 1824 J. Johnson Typogr. II. xiii. 482 In companionships no man should be suffered to hold too large a taking of copy. 1865 Reader 19 Aug. 199 The sponge fishery..is chiefly carried on by companionships of from twenty to thirty boats, for mutual support and protection. 1883 Fortn. Rev. Apr. 489 The manuscript is given to a number of men who are arranged in a group, which is called a ‘companionship’, and these are, or ought to be, occupied continuously on the book till it is done. |
4. The dignity of a Companion in an order of knighthood.
| 1870 Daily News 19 Jan., Five Companionships are also distributed. 1879 Queen's Regul. in Navy List July (1882) 486/2 The buckle of the Companionship of the Bath. |