Etymology From earlier cumrade, camrade, comerade, camerade, camarade, 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 and chamberlain.
1
A mate, companion, or associate.
[… 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.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 20:
2
A companion in battle; fellow soldier.
Wierzbowski and his men were so exhausted that they could hardly stay awake, but they knew they could not abandon their wounded comrades.2019, Antony Beevor, chapter 16, in Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944, Penguin Books, page 194:
Hello, comrade. Are you going to the Communist Party meeting tonight?
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.1976, Survey of People's Republic of China Press, numbers 6086–6105, United States Consulate General (Hong Kong), →ISSN, →OCLC, page 187:
4
Communism, Government, Human sciences, Ideology, Philosophy, Politics, Sciences A non-hierarchical title, functionally similar to "Mr.", "Mrs.", "Miss", "Ms." etc, in a communist, socialist, or rarely in an Islamist state.
Comrade Lenin inspired our people to undertake great works.
Etymology From earlier cumrade, camrade, comerade, camerade, camarade, 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 and chamberlain.
1
To associate with someone in a friendly way.
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.1916, Mark Twain, The Mysterious Stranger: