Who invented/coined the term "comrade"?

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Now don't get me wrong,I like using the great equalizer as much as the rest of you (every time I do a sly smirk comes across my face), but I want to know who invented and who coined the term for popular use.Why did socialists/communists take to using it? All seems like a very interesting part of history.

Thanks.

[DarkPast]

It was established by the Socialist Workers Party of Germany in 1875. "Genosse", the German word for "comrade", implies someone who uses something together with someone else (i.e. sharing).

Not sure where the English term comes from though. Maybe it was simply a translation of the German term?

Anyway, it was inspired by the French revolution, when "citizen" was used as a way of breaking with the old monsieur and madame (which implied nobility). The socialists wanted to go a step further, so they used the word that implies sharing and cameradrie as well as equality.

[Susurrus]

It was established by the Socialist Workers Party of Germany in 1875. "Genosse", the German word for "comrade", implies someone who uses something together with someone else (i.e. sharing).

Not sure where the English term comes from though. Maybe it was simply a translation of the German term?

Anyway, it was inspired by the French revolution, when "citizen" was used as a way of breaking with the old monsieur and madame (which implied nobility). The socialists wanted to go a step further, so they used the word that implies sharing and cameradrie as well as equality.

I thought the german word for comrade was "kamerad?"

[Rooster]

1590s, "one who shares the same room," from M.Fr. camarade (16c.), from Sp. camarada "chamber mate," originally "chamberful," from L. camera.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=comrade

< late Middle English (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English_language) comered (http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=comered&action=edit&redlink=1) < French camerade (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/camerade) < Italian camerata (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/camerata) < Medieval Latin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Latin) *camarata < Latin camara (http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=camara&action=edit&redlink=1), camera (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/camera) (“a chamber”); see chamber (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chamber#English). Compare camaraderie (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/camaraderie#English).

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/comrade

[Kamos]

I thought the german word for comrade was "kamerad?"

The "comrade" as we know it is "Genosse" (or "Genossin" if it's a female).

[Luisrah]

We portuguese say ''camarada'' which means exactly the same thing.
What I've heard is that it simply comes from what workers called each other in factories and etc.
They called each other comrades, and then the socialists adopted that too since they were also workers.

Atleast that's what I've heard

[Rooster]

Unless anyone else wants to post sources then I think my suggestion is the one that still stands, ie, coming from the word room mate, from the latin word for room. As to how it become used within socialist circles, I believe it comes from French usage.

[o well this is ok I guess]

Huh, wow.
I always figured it came from bad soviet jokes.

[Die Rote Fahne]

The political usage of the term was inspired by the French Revolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution). Upon abolishing the titles of nobility, and the terms monsieur and madame (literally, "my lord" and "my lady"), the revolutionaries employed the term citoyen for men and citoyenne for women (both meaning "citizen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen)") to refer to each other. The deposed King Louis XVI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XVI_of_France), for instance, was referred to as Citoyen Louis Capet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Capet) to emphasize his loss of privilege.
When the socialist movement gained momentum in the mid-19th century, socialists began to look for an egalitarian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egalitarianism) alternative to terms like "Mister (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr.)", "Miss (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss)", or "Missus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs.)". They chose "comrade" as their preferred term of address. In German, this practice was started in 1875, with the establishment of the Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_Workers%27_Party_of_Germany).[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comrade#cite_note-vienna-0)[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comrade#cite_note-laden-1) In English, the first known use of the word with this meaning was in 1884 in the socialist magazine Justice.


- Wikipedia, Comrade