Comrade means "friend", "colleague", or "ally", often with a military or left-wing political connotation. The term was also used by Italian Fascists and the German Nazi Party (Camerata,Kamerade).The word derives ultimately from Spanish camarada, i.e. a roommate, from camara, a chamber.

Russian use

The original (archaic) meaning of the Russian version of this term (товарищ, tovarishch) meant something like "business companion", often "travel (or other adventure) mate", referring to the noun товар (tovar, i.e. 'merchandise').

The common secondary meaning of the term was (and continues to be) simply that of "friend", often referring to a schoolmate (as in 'he has been my товарищ since high school'). This usually implies a less close degree of friendship, signifying something similar to "a person with whom I have a good working (or similar) relationship".

After the Russian Revolution, the Russian word товарищ (tovarishch) was championed by the Bolsheviks. The use of "comrade" soon became widespread among Communists worldwide (much more so than among socialists who were not supporters of the Communist International).

During the Russian Civil War, the Tsarist White Russians used the word comrades (tovarishchi) as a derogatory term for their Bolshevik enemies, particularly those involved in the Red Army and the soviets. Western politicians sometimes mock left-wing opponents by calling them "comrade."Fact: date=June 2008

Because of its use by communists, the term is now strongly associated with communism, particularly the Marxist-Leninist, Stalinist and Trotskyist varieties, and the Soviet Union. The term can be affixed to titles to add a Soviet flavor (e.g. "Comrade Colonel"). The usage is fairly flexible. For instance, one might be referred to as Comrade Lenin or Comrade Chairman, or simply as Comrade. While the term has been used mockingly in stereotypical portrayals of the Soviet Union in Cold War films and books, it was frequently employed in Soviet society. In the Soviet Union the term was used essentially the same way that terms like "Mister" and "Sir" are employed. The term is not used often in contemporary Russian society, but it is still widely used today by the armed forces, where officers and soldiers are normally addressed as "Comrade Colonel," "Comrade General," or the like. The term is also used as part of idioms e.g. tovarish po neschast'yu (fellow-sufferer) or as a part of such words as tovarishchestvo (partnership) that do not associate with communism.

The science fiction story Time Heals by Poul Anderson depicted a society in the year 2837 where "tovrash" is a worldwide word for "person", and "Tov" precedes the name of everybody like the present "Mr" - both having, by that far future time, no political significance.