accompany
verb
Simple meaning
Be a companion to somebody.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhkuhmpuhneeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əˈkʌmpəni
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Be a companion to somebody
transitive
To go with or attend as a companion or associate; to keep company with; to go along with.
intransitivemusic
To perform an accompanying part or parts in a composition.
transitive
To supplement with; add to.
Perform an accompaniment to
To be found at the same time.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Be a companion to somebody
This usage emphasizes being a companion, often implying presence for support, company, or mutual enjoyment. It's more formal than 'hang out with' but less demanding than 'escort.'
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where you'll really hear it
Casual conversation
“Would you like me to accompany you to the store?”
Formal requests
“He asked her to accompany him to the dance.”
Narrative writing
“Her loyal dog always chose to accompany her.”
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Having companions or an escort.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
An event or situation that happens at the same time as or in connection with another.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A vein accompanying another structure.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: be a companion to somebody
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.