I fully expected to find that the latter of camaraderie versus comradery was an error. Turns out I was in error. Both mean the same thing — warm feelings of friendship, closeness and loyalty shared among a group or people or a team of people — with this North Americanism, comradery, evolving out of the French camaraderie.
Word Confusions…
…started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.
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| Camaraderie | Comradery |
|---|---|
| Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Dictionary.com: camaraderie; Lexico.com: camaraderie, comradery | |
Operation Northern Strike 2014 by Staff Sgt. Lealan Buehrer is in the public domain courtesy of the US Air Force, via the 182nd Airlift Wing. — A shared camaraderie amongst soldiers. |
Quilters, Hampton, New Brunswick, Canada, by Leonora (Ellie) Enking is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Flickr. — A quilting bee is the epitome of comradery. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun
Plural: camaraderie |
Noun
Plural: comradery |
Mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together
|
[Chiefly North American] Another term for camaraderie |
| Examples: | |
| There was a genuine camaraderie on the hockey team.
I also agree that there’s an incredible amount of camaraderie among fencers. There has indeed always been a strong sense of camaraderie among the marshals. Maybe Ryan put his finger on the reason for this camaraderie and friendship. That these grievances are being aired speaks much about the erosion of trust and camaraderie. |
The project created a real sense of comradery among those involved.
She’ll often use the tu word, instead of the formal vous, which suggests an immediate comradery. The architects rebuilding the Stoddard place enjoy great comradery amongst them. The overall picture of enthusiastic male comradery is quite strong. I knew this would be good for creating a sense of comradery! |
| History of the Word: | |
| Mid-19th century, from the French camarade (comrade) + -erie (-ery). | Late 19th century, from comrade + -ery, influenced by camaraderie. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan…which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them…and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions by exploring the index. You may also want to explore Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, and/or the Properly Punctuated.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Wisconsin Badgers Football Fans, 15 Sept 2012, by Richard Hurd is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr.
