comrade

English

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comrade

Wikipedia

Etymology

From late Middle English ^{(please verify)} comered, from Middle French camarade, from Spanish camarada or Italian camerata (“chamber mate”), from Medieval Latin *camarata, from Latin camara, camera (“vaulted room, chamber”); see chamber. Compare camaraderie.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒmɹeɪd/
  • (MLE) IPA^(key): [ˈkʰɔmɹed]

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑmɹæd/, /ˈkɑmɹəd/

• Audio (California):

  (file)

• (Republic of Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒmɹeɪd/, /ˈkʊmɹeɪd/, /-ɹeːd/
• (Northern Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒmɹeɪd/, /ˈkʌmɹeɪd/, /-ɹeːd/

Noun

comrade (plural comrades)

1. A mate, companion, or associate. [from 1590s]
   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 20:

     [… these tears] Which weep the comrade of my choice,
     ⁠An awful thought, a life removed,
     ⁠The human-hearted man I loved,
     A spirit, not a breathing voice.

   1. A companion in battle; fellow soldier.
      • 2019, Antony Beevor, chapter 16, in Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944, Penguin Books, page 194:

        Wierzbowski and his men were so exhausted that they could hardly stay awake, but they knew they could not abandon their wounded comrades.

3. (communism, by extension) A fellow socialist, communist or other similarly politically aligned person. [from 1884]

   Hello, comrade. Are you going to the Communist Party meeting tonight?

   • 1976, Survey of People's Republic of China Press, numbers 6086–6105, United States Consulate General (Hong Kong), →ISSN, →OCLC, page 187:

     Many comrades like Chang Te-fa, deputy secretary of the Party committee of Hsialuho commune of K'uantien county, precisely see the hope of the revolutionary cause in the youths.

5. (communism) A non-hierarchical title, functionally similar to "Mr.", "Mrs.", "Miss", "Ms." etc, in a communist, socialist, or rarely in an Islamist state. [from 1884]

   Comrade Lenin inspired our people to undertake great works.

Synonyms

• see also Thesaurus:friend
• (title): compare sister, brother
• battle buddy
• tovarish
• compagno

Derived terms

• comrade in arms
• comradeless
• comradeliness
• comradely
• comradery
• comradeship
• comradess

Related terms

• camaraderie

Translations

mate, companion, or associate

Alutor: тумгытум (tumɣətum) Arabic: رَفِيق m (rafīq), رَفِيقَة f (rafīqa), صَدِيق m (ṣadīq), صَدِيقَة f (ṣadīqa) Bashkir: иптәш (iptəş) Basque: lagun (eu) Belarusian: тава́рыш m (taváryš), тава́рышка f (taváryška), ся́бар m (sjábar), сябро́ўка f (sjabrówka) Bulgarian: друга́р (bg) m (drugár), друга́рка (bg) f (drugárka) Catalan: camarada (ca) m or f Chechen: накъост (naqʼost), гӏоьнча (ğönča), стаг (stag) Chinese: Cantonese: 同志 (tung4 zi3) Dungan: тунзы (tunzɨ) Eastern Min: 同志 (dùng-cé) Hakka: 同志 (thùng-chṳ) Hokkien: 同志 (tông-chì) Mandarin: 同志 (zh) (tóngzhì) Wu: 同志 (3don-tsr) Czech: kamarád (cs) m, druh (cs) m, družka (cs) f Danish: kammerat c, makker c Dutch: makker (nl) m, maat (nl) m, kameraad (nl) m Esperanto: kamarado, samideano (eo) Finnish: kaveri (fi) French: camarade (fr) m or f Galician: compañeiro (gl) m, amigallo m Georgian: მეგობარი (megobari) German: Kamerad (de) m Greek: συνάδελφος (el) m (synádelfos), συναδέλφισσα f (synadélfissa) Ancient Greek: ἑταῖρος m (hetaîros), ἑταίρᾱ f (hetaírā), σύζυγος m (súzugos) Hindi: रफ़ीक़ m (rafīq), साथी (hi) m (sāthī) Hungarian: pajtás (hu) Ido: kamarado (io) Indonesian: kamerad (id) Ingrian: tovarišša Irish: comrádaí m Japanese: 仲間 (ja) (なかま, nakama), 同志 (ja) (どうし, dōshi), 同伴者 (どうはんしゃ, dōhansha), 同僚 (ja) (どうりょう, dōryō) Khmer: សមមិត្ត (saʼmaʼmɨt), ភឿន (km) (phɨən) Korean: 동무(同務) (ko) (dongmu), 동지(同志) (ko) (dongji), 동료(同僚) (ko) (dongnyo), 동반자(同伴者) (ko) (dongbanja), 동행자(同行者) (donghaengja) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: heval (ku) Latin: comes m or f, socius (la) m Lithuanian: bičiulis m, bičiulė f, bendražygis m, bendražygė f Macedonian: другар m (drugar), другарка f (drugarka) Norman: canmathade m or f (Jersey) Old East Slavic: товарищь m (tovariščĭ) Ottoman Turkish: یولداش (yoldaş), رفیق (refik), قولداش (koldaş), آیاقداش (ayakdaş), حریف (herif) Pashto: رفيق (ps) m (rafíq) Persian: Dari: رَفِیق (rafīq) Iranian Persian: رَفیق (rafiġ) Polish: kamrat (pl) m, kompan (pl) m, towarzysz (pl) m, kolega (pl) m, koleżanka (pl) f, druh (pl) m Portuguese: camarada (pt) m or f, parceiro (pt) m, companheiro (pt) m Quechua: masi (qu) Romanian: tovarăș (ro) m, camarad (ro) m Russian: това́рищ (ru) m (továrišč) (both genders), друг (ru) m (drug), подру́га (ru) f (podrúga) Slovak: druh (sk) m, družka (sk) f Slovene: tovariš (sl) m, kolega m Somali: jaalle (so) Spanish: compañero (es) m, colega (es) m, camarada (es), correligionario (es) Sranan Tongo: mati, kompe, staman, brada, kâbel Swahili: rafiki (sw) class ma Swedish: kamrat (sv) c Tajik: рафиқ (rafiq) Tarifit: amedukker m Tibetan: བློ་མཐུན (blo mthun), བློ་མཐུན་པ (blo mthun pa), མཐུན་གྲོགས (mthun grogs), རོགས (rogs), གྲོགས (grogs), རོགས་པ (rogs pa), གྲོགས་པོ (grogs po) Turkish: yoldaş (tr) Ukrainian: това́риш m (továryš), това́ришка f (továryška), друг (uk) m (druh), подру́га f (podrúha), по́друга f (pódruha) Urdu: رَفِیق m (rafīq) Uzbek: oʻrtoq (uz), doʻst (uz), rafiq (uz) Vietnamese: đồng chí (vi) (同志), bằng hữu (vi) Yiddish: חבֿר (yi) m (khaver)

companion in battle, fellow soldier

Arabic: رَفِيق m (rafīq), رَفِيقَة f (rafīqa) Bashkir: иптәш (iptəş) Basque: kamarada Belarusian: тава́рыш m (taváryš), тава́рышка f (taváryška) Catalan: camarada (ca) m or f Chechen: накъост (naqʼost) Chinese: Cantonese: 同志 (tung4 zi3), 戰友 / 战友 (zin3 jau5) Dungan: тунзы (tunzɨ) Eastern Min: 同志 (dùng-cé) Hakka: 同志 (thùng-chṳ) Hokkien: 同志 (tông-chì), 戰友 / 战友 (chiàn-iú) Mandarin: 同志 (zh) (tóngzhì), 戰友 / 战友 (zh) (zhànyǒu) Wu: 同志 (3don-tsr) Danish: kammerat c, krigskammerat c, våbenbroder c, kampfælle (da) c, våbenfælle (da) c Dutch: strijdmakker (nl) m, maat (nl) m, kameraad (nl) m Finnish: taistelutoveri French: camarade (fr) m or f Galician: conpañeiro m, socio (gl) m Georgian: თანამებრძოლი (tanamebrʒoli) German: Kamerad (de) m Greek: συμπολεμιστής (el) m (sympolemistís), συστρατιώτης (el) m (systratiótis) Hindi: साथी (hi) m (sāthī) Hungarian: bajtárs (hu) Irish: comrádaí m Japanese: 戦友 (ja) (せんゆう, sen'yū) Korean: 전우(戰友) (ko) (jeonu) Latin: commīlitō m Macedonian: соборец m (soborec), другар m (drugar) Old English: gūþwine m Ottoman Turkish: یولداش (yoldaş) Persian: Iranian Persian: هَم‌رَزْم (ham-razm), بَرادَر (barâdar) Polish: towarzysz (pl) m Portuguese: camarada (pt) m Romanian: camarad (ro) m, tovarăș (ro) m Russian: това́рищ (ru) m (továrišč) (both genders), камара́д m (kamarád) (rare), сора́тник (ru) m (sorátnik), сора́тница (ru) f (sorátnica) Spanish: camarada (es) m or f, conmilitón Swedish: kamrat (sv) c Vietnamese: đồng chí (vi) (同志) Ukrainian: това́риш m (továryš), това́ришка f (továryška)

fellow socialist or communist

Abkhaz: аҩыза (ajʷəza) Albanian: shok (sq) m Arabic: رَفِيق m (rafīq), رَفِيقَة f (rafīqa) Armenian: ընկեր (hy) (ənker) Azerbaijani: yoldaş (az) Bashkir: иптәш (iptəş) Belarusian: тава́рыш m (taváryš), тава́рышка f (taváryška) Bengali: কমরেড (bn) (komreḍ) Bulgarian: друга́р (bg) m (drugár), друга́рка (bg) f (drugárka) Burmese: ရဲဘော် (my) (rai:bhau) Catalan: camarada (ca) m or f Cebuano: kauban Chechen: накъост (naqʼost) Chinese: Cantonese: 同志 (tung4 zi3) Dungan: тунзы (tunzɨ) Eastern Min: 同志 (dùng-cé) Hakka: 同志 (thùng-chṳ) Hokkien: 同志 (tông-chì) Mandarin: 同志 (zh) (tóngzhì) Wu: 同志 (3don-tsr) Chuvash: юлташ (jult̬aš) Czech: soudruh (cs) m, soudružka (cs) f Danish: kammerat c Dongxiang: tunzhi Dutch: kameraad (nl) m Esperanto: kamarado Estonian: seltsimees Finnish: toveri (fi) French: camarade (fr) m or f Georgian: ამხანაგი (amxanagi) German: Genosse (de) m, Genossin (de) f Greek: σύντροφος (el) m (sýntrofos), συντρόφισσα (el) f (syntrófissa) Hebrew: חָבֵר (he) m (khavér), חֲבֵרָה (he) f (khaverá) Hindi: साथी (hi) m (sāthī), कामरेड (hi) m (kāmreḍ), रफ़ीक़ m (rafīq), कॉमरेड m (kŏmreḍ) Hungarian: elvtárs (hu) m, elvtársnő (hu) f Ilocano: kadua Indonesian: kamerad (id) Ingrian: tovarišša Irish: comrádaí m Italian: compagno (it) m, compagna (it) f Japanese: 同志 (ja) (どうし, dōshi) Kalmyk: нөкр (nökr) Kazakh: жолдас (joldas) Khmer: សមមិត្ត (saʼmaʼmɨt), កាដុងជី (kaa dong cii), មិត្ត (km) (mɨt) Korean: 동지(同志) (ko) (dongji), 동무(同務) (ko) (dongmu) Kumyk: ёлдаш (yoldaş) Kyrgyz: жолдош (ky) (joldoş) Lao: ສະຫາຍ (sa hāi) Latvian: biedrs (lv) m, biedre f, biedrene f Lithuanian: draugas (lt) m, draugė f Macedonian: другар m (drugar), другарка f (drugarka) Malay: komrad (ms), kamerad, kawan (ms), sahabat (ms) Malayalam: സഖാവ് (ml) m (sakhāvŭ) Mongolian: Cyrillic: нөхөр (mn) (nöxör) Nepali: कमरेड (kamareḍ) Norman: canmathade m or f (Jersey) Norwegian: Bokmål: kamerat (no) m Pashto: رفيق (ps) m (rafíq) Persian: Dari: رَفِیق (rafīq) Iranian Persian: رَفیق (rafiġ) Polish: towarzysz (pl) m, towarzyszka (pl) f Portuguese: camarada (pt) m, companheiro (pt) m Romanian: tovarăș (ro) m, tovarășă (ro) f Russian: това́рищ (ru) m (továrišč) (both genders), камара́д m (kamarád) (foreign context) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: дру̑г m, друга̀рица f Roman: drȗg (sh) m, drugàrica (sh) f Slovak: súdruh m, súdružka f Slovene: tovariš (sl) m, tovarišica f Southern Altai: јолдош (ǰoldoš) Spanish: compañero (es) m, compañera (es) f (more common among anarchists and other libertarian socialists); camarada (es) m or f (more common among Marxists and social democrats) Swahili: rafiki (sw) class ma Swedish: kamrat (sv) c Tagalog: kasama Tajik: рафиқ (rafiq) Tamil: தோழர் (tōḻar) Tatar: иптәш (tt) (iptäş) Thai: สหาย (th) (sà-hǎai) Tibetan: བློ་མཐུན (blo mthun) Turkish: yoldaş (tr) Turkmen: ýoldaş Tuvan: эш (eş) Ukrainian: това́риш m (továryš), това́ришка f (továryška) Urdu: ساتھی (ur) m (sāthī), کامْریڈ m (kāmreḍ) Uyghur: يولداش (ug) (yoldash) Uzbek: oʻrtoq (uz), rafiq (uz) Vietnamese: đồng chí (vi) (同志) Yakut: табаарыс (tabaarïs) Yiddish: גענאָסע m (genose), קאַמעראַד m (kamerad), חבֿר (yi) m (khaver), גענאָסינע f (genosine), חבֿרטע (yi) f (khaverte) Zhuang: dungzci

title used in leftist circles

Abkhaz: аҩыза (ajʷəza) Albanian: shok (sq) m Arabic: رَفِيق m (rafīq), رَفِيقَة f (rafīqa) Armenian: ընկեր (hy) (ənker) Azerbaijani: yoldaş (az) Bashkir: иптәш (iptəş) Belarusian: тава́рыш m (taváryš), тава́рышка f (taváryška) Bengali: কমরেড (bn) (komreḍ) Bulgarian: друга́р (bg) m (drugár), друга́рка (bg) f (drugárka) Catalan: camarada (ca) m or f Cebuano: kauban Chinese: Cantonese: 同志 (tung4 zi3) Dungan: тунзы (tunzɨ) Eastern Min: 同志 (dùng-cé) Hakka: 同志 (thùng-chṳ) Hokkien: 同志 (tông-chì) Mandarin: 同志 (zh) (tóngzhì) Wu: 同志 (3don-tsr) Czech: soudruh (cs) m, soudružka (cs) f Danish: kammerat c Dutch: kameraad (nl) m Esperanto: kamarado, k-do Estonian: seltsimees Finnish: toveri (fi) French: camarade (fr) Georgian: ამხანაგი (amxanagi) German: Genosse (de) m Greek: σύντροφος (el) m (sýntrofos), συντρόφισσα (el) f (syntrófissa) Hebrew: חָבֵר (he) m (khavér), חֲבֵרָה (he) f (khaverá) Hindi: कामरेड (hi) m (kāmreḍ), साथी (hi) (sāthī), रफ़ीक़ m (rafīq), कॉमरेड m (kŏmreḍ) Hungarian: elvtárs (hu) m, elvtársnő (hu) f Icelandic: félagi (is) Indonesian: kamerad (id) Irish: comrádaí m Italian: compagno (it) m, compagna (it) f Japanese: 同志 (ja) (どうし, dōshi) Kazakh: жолдас (joldas) Khmer: សមមិត្ត (saʼmaʼmɨt) Korean: 동무(同務) (ko) (dongmu), 동지(同志) (ko) (dongji) Kyrgyz: жолдош (ky) (joldoş) Lao: ສະຫາຍ (sa hāi) Latin: comes m Latvian: biedrs (lv) m, biedre f, biedrene f Lithuanian: draugas (lt) m, draugė f Macedonian: другар m (drugar), другарка f (drugarka) Mongolian: Cyrillic: нөхөр (mn) (nöxör) Nepali: कमरेड (kamareḍ), साथी (sāthī) Nogai: йолдас (yoldas) Norman: canmathade m or f (Jersey) Norwegian: Bokmål: kamerat (no) m Pashto: رفيق (ps) m (rafíq) Persian: Dari: رَفِیق (rafīq) Iranian Persian: رَفیق (rafiġ) Polish: towarzysz (pl) m, towarzyszka (pl) f Portuguese: camarada (pt) m or f Romanian: tovarăș (ro) m, tovarășă (ro) f Russian: това́рищ (ru) m (továrišč) (both genders) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: дру̑г m Roman: drȗg (sh) m Slovak: súdruh m, súdružka f Slovene: tovariš (sl) m, tovarišica f Spanish: camarada (es) m or f (more common among social democrats and Marxists); compañero (es) m, compañera (es) f (more common among anarchists and other libertarian socialists) Swahili: ndugu (sw) Swedish: kamrat (sv) c Tagalog: kasama Tajik: рафиқ (rafiq‍) Tamil: தோழர் (tōḻar) Tatar: иптәш (tt) (iptäş) Thai: สหาย (th) (sà-hǎai) Tibetan: བློ་མཐུན (blo mthun) Turkish: yoldaş (tr) Turkmen: ýoldaş Ukrainian: това́риш m (továryš), това́ришка f (továryška) Urdu: کامْریڈ m (kāmreḍ) Uzbek: safdosh (uz) Vietnamese: đồng chí (vi) (同志) Yiddish: חבֿר (yi) m (khaver), גענאָסע (genose), חבֿרטע (yi) (khaverte) Zhuang: dungzci

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: (please verify) kameraad (nl) n, (please verify) gabber (nl) n, (please verify) maat (nl) n Esperanto: (please verify) kamarado Italian: (please verify) compagno (it) m, (please verify) camerata (it) m or f Old English: (please verify) ġesīþ, (please verify) ġefēra

Verb

comrade (third-person singular simple present comrades, present participle comrading, simple past and past participle comraded)

1. (intransitive) To associate with someone in a friendly way.
   • 1916, Mark Twain, The Mysterious Stranger:

     But she was happy, for she was far away under another sky, and comrading again with her Rangers, and her animal friends, and the soldiers.

Further reading

• “comrade”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “comrade”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2025), “comrade (n.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Anagrams

• DeMarco, Demarco, Mercado, caromed, dome car