Comrade

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In political contexts, comrade means a fellow party member. The political use was inspired by the French Revolution, after which it grew into a form of address between socialists and workers. Since the Russian Revolution, popular culture in the West has often associated it with communism. As such, it can also be used as a derogatory reference to leftists, akin to "commie". In particular, the Russian word товарищ (tovarishch) may be used as derogatory reference to communists.

The influence of the term in communism in the 20th century led anarchists to prefer the term 'companion', a term that has been used in Western Europe since the end of the 19th century.