compadre

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish compadre (“joint father, godfather, friend”). Doublet of compeer, compere, and goombah.

Noun

compadre (plural compadres)

1. A friend or companion.
   • 1839, J. P., W. P. Robertson, Letters from Paraguay, comprising an account of four years residence in that republic, under the dictator Francia, London: John Murray, page 339:

     Whenever he had a compadre or a friend, it was his bounden duty to do him some service.

Anagrams

• compared

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese compadre, conpadre (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Late Latin compater, compatrem, from com- + Latin pater.

Cognate with Portuguese compadre, Spanish compadre, Catalan compare and Italian compare.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [komˈpaðɾɪ]
• Hyphenation: com‧pa‧dre

Noun

compadre m (plural compadres, feminine comadre, feminine plural comadres)

1. godfather of one’s child; father of one’s godchild
2. father of one's child's spouse; co-father-in-law

   Synonym: consogro

3. (familiar) a close friend; compadre

   Synonyms: amigo, camarada, compañeiro

   Á taberna do meu compadre fun polo vento, vin polo aire; Debe ser cousa de encantamento, ir polo aire, vir polo vento! (traditional, festive song)

   To my mate's tavern I went in the wind, came back by the air; it must be an enchantment, to go by air, to came back in the wind!

Related terms

• padre

See also

• comadre

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “compadre”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “conpadre”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “compadre”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “compadre”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “compadre”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese compadre, conpadre, from Late Latin compatrem, from com- + Latin pater.

Cognate with Galician and Spanish compadre, Catalan and Italian compare.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõˈpa.dɾi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõˈpa.dɾi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõˈpa.dɾe/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõˈpa.dɾɨ/ [kõˈpa.ðɾɨ]

• Hyphenation: com‧pa‧dre

Noun

compadre m (plural compadres, feminine comadre, feminine plural comadres)

2. godfather of one’s child; father of one’s godchild
4. father of one's child's spouse; co-father-in-law

   Synonym: consogro

6. (familiar) a close friend; compadre

   Synonyms: amigo, camarada, companheiro

Related terms

• padre

Descendants

• → Kadiwéu: inigompaadile

See also

• comadre

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /komˈpadɾe/ [kõmˈpa.ð̞ɾe]
• Rhymes: -adɾe
• Syllabification: com‧pa‧dre

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish cuémpadre, from Late Latin compatrem, from com- + Latin pater (“father”). Dialectal cumpa is a doublet.

Noun

compadre m (plural compadres, feminine comadre, feminine plural comadres)

1. godfather of one's child

   Synonym: padrino

   Antonym: (feminine form) comadre

2. parent of one's godchild
3. friend, especially a very close and honoured male friend
4. (colloquial) father of one's child's spouse

   Synonym: consuegro

5. (Mexico) binge or partying habitual companion

   Synonym: amigote

6. (Argentina) person of the generation whose parents fought in Argentina's war of independence from Spain.
7. (Nicaragua, colloquial) the relation between a man and his wife's lover, or in the case of divorce, the relation between the previous and current husband (in general, the relation between two men who have been involved with the same woman)

Usage notes

• In Spanish, compadre and padrino are not synonyms. A padrino is one's own godfather, whereas a compadre is the godfather of one's child or the father of one's godchild.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “godchild's father”): comadre (feminine form)

Derived terms

• compa
• compadrar
• compadrazgo
• compadrito

 

Related terms

• padre

 

Descendants

• → Belizean Creole: kompaajreh
• → Chamicuro: kumpali
• → English: compadre
• → Tagalog: kumpáre, kompare; ⇒ páre, pre, par
• → Taos: kumpàyliʼína
• → Zacatepec Chatino: mpaà

See also

• comadre

Etymology 2

Verb

compadre

1. inflection of compadrar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “compadre”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10