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v. ac·com·pa·nied, ac·com·pa·ny·ing, ac·com·pa·nies v.tr. 1. To be or go with, especially as a companion. 2. To provide with an addition; supplement: a dish that is best accompanied with a robust wine. 3. To exist or occur at the same time as: dark clouds that were accompanied by rain. 4. Music To perform an accompaniment to. v.intr. Music To play an accompaniment. [Middle English accompanien, from Old French acompagnier : a-, to (from Latin ad-; see AD-) + compaignon, companion; see COMPANION1.] Synonyms: accompany, conduct, escort, chaperone These verbs mean to be with or to go with another or others. Accompany suggests going with another on an equal basis: "One day [my wife] accompanied me, upon some household errand, into the cellar of the old building which our poverty compelled us to inhabit" (Edgar Allan Poe). Conduct implies guidance of others: "A servant conducted me to my bedroom" (Charlotte Brontë). Escort stresses protective guidance or official action: "At every county town a long cavalcade of the principal gentlemen ... escorted the mayor to the market cross" (Thomas Macaulay). Chaperone specifies adult supervision of young persons: My mother helped chaperone the prom. |
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