A "companionable" person is someone who (etymologically at least) is willing to share bread with you. "Companionable" is the adjective form of "companion," which ultimately derives from a combination of the Latin prefix com-, meaning "with" or "together," and the noun panis, meaning "bread, loaf, or food." "Companionable" first appeared in print in English in the 16th century (companion has been in use since the 14th). Other descendants of "panis" include "pantry" (a place for storing food), "pannier" (a basket such as might carry food), and "panettone" (a kind of yeast bread). Even "food" itself is derived from the same ancient root that gave rise to "panis" in Latin.
a companionable pat on the back let me know that my shipmates were now my friends a good club for companionable enthusiasts of the great outdoors
Recent Examples on the WebConversation drifts between them from time to time, but the montage is mostly of a companionable, understanding quiet. Nina Li Coomes, The Atlantic, 5 Mar. 2022 Designed in 1905 for a site at the University of Wisconsin but never built, this working boathouse ultimately found a companionable home in 2007 at Buffalo’s West Side Rowing Club overlooking the Black Rock Canal and Niagara River. Sandra Macgregor, Forbes, 20 Jan. 2022 But this wise and sympathetic book’s lingering effect is as a reminder that a deeper and more companionable way of life lurks behind our self-serious stories. Mark Epstein, New York Times, 11 Jan. 2022 Surrounding yourself with others who aren’t making companionable and supportive choices could definitely harm your shot at success. Wayne And Wanda, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Jan. 2022 And companionship doesn’t even have to include conversation to be companionable.Washington Post, 28 June 2021 Its rich blues and luscious pops of berry red led Ms. Murphy to choose pieces with companionable hues and forms. Elizabeth Quinn Brown, WSJ, 8 Oct. 2021 Let his words spill over into the surrounding, companionable dark, and let whatever can’t be absorbed by her mind be taken in through her skin, her fingernails, her hair—this, too, is a kind of money, wealth. Han Ong, The New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2021 In the slanting sunlight, unhurried and companionable, the two picked their way through the undergrowth, a vision of the rural idyll.New York Times, 28 June 2021 See More