Archaic term for food eaten as an accompaniment to bread; side dishes or relish.
From Old French companage, from compain (companion, bread), literally 'what goes with bread.' The suffix -age indicates a collection or type of thing, so it means 'bread accompaniments.'
Companage is a wonderful medieval word that reveals how bread was the staple and everything else was just the accompaniment—in poor households, people might eat bread with just salt or onions as companage, making the concept of 'side dish' absolutely essential to survival.
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