[f. COMPANION sb.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. Shaks., Timon, I. i. 251. ’Tis Alcibiades, and some twenty Horse All of Companionship. Ibid., 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., April, 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.
