Thursday, April 1, 2010

The origin of the word "company"

Preparing for a lecture on corporate law next week I learned something -- the word "company" derives from the Latin "cum panis" meaning "with bread".

Merchants would meet and discuss their business plans over dinner ("with bread") and eventually their ventures were named for the dinner meetings.

A book on Google from 1872 called "An English grammar and reading book for lower forms in classical schools" (http://tinyurl.com/ygutlbr) lists two words in its glossary that come from "cum panis":

companion: a sharer of food, a comrade, fellow-traveller, partner
company: association, a number of partners

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

According to one source, "it may be formed by Act of Parliament, by Royal Charter, or by registration under company law (referred to as a limited liability or joint-stock company)."[3] In the United Kingdom, the main regulating laws are the Companies Act 1985 and the Companies Act 2006.[3] Reportedly, "a company registered under this Act has limited liability: its owners (the shareholders) have no financial liability in the event of winding up the affairs of the company, but they might lose the money already invested in it".[3] In the USA, companies are registered in a particular state—Delaware being especially favoured—and become Incorporated (Inc).[3]

In North America, two of the earliest companies were The London Company (also called the Charter of the Virginia Company of London)—a English joint stock company established by royal charter by James I of England on April 10, 1606 with the purpose of establishing colonial settlements in North America—and Plymouth Company that was granted an identical charter as part of the Virginia Company. The London Company was responsible for establishing the Jamestown Settlement, the first permanent English settlement in the present United States in 1607, and in the process of sending additional supplies, inadvertently settled the Somers Isles, alias Bermuda, the oldest-remaining English colony, in 1609.

Anonymous said...

TYPES

* A company limited by guarantee. Commonly used where companies are formed for non-commercial purposes, such as clubs or charities. The members guarantee the payment of certain (usually nominal) amounts if the company goes into insolvent liquidation, but otherwise they have no economic rights in relation to the company. This type of company is common in England.
* A company limited by shares. The most common form of company used for business ventures. Specifically, a limited company is a "company in which the liability of each shareholder is limited to the amount individually invested" with corporations being "the most common example of a limited company."[1] This type of company is common in England.
* A company limited by guarantee with a share capital. A hybrid entity, usually used where the company is formed for non-commercial purposes, but the activities of the company are partly funded by investors who expect a return. This type of company may no longer be formed in the UK, although provisions still exist in law for them to exist.[4]
* A limited-liability company. "A company—statutorily authorized in certain states—that is characterized by limited liability, management by members or managers, and limitations on ownership transfer", i.e., L.L.C.[1]
* An unlimited company with or without a share capital. A hybrid entity, a company where the liability of members or shareholders for the debts (if any) of the company are not limited.

Less commonly seen types of companies are:

* Companies formed by letters patent. Most corporations by letters patent are corporations sole and not companies as the term is commonly understood today.
* charter corporations. Before the passing of modern companies legislation, these were the only types of companies. Now they are relatively rare, except for very old companies that still survive (of which there are still many, particularly many British banks), or modern societies that fulfil a quasi regulatory function (for example, the Bank of England is a corporation formed by a modern charter).
* Statutory Companies. Relatively rare today, certain companies have been formed by a private statute passed in the relevant jurisdiction.

MarkhamMom said...

interesting history on the word - thanks for sharing - I love learning the origin of words!

Unknown said...

Actually, although "cum+panis" really came from latin (bread + with), the original context is differente: back into Roman time, those whom worked together, share the product of their work between themselves. Thus they would share the "bread" (panis) "with" (cum) each other. Hence, the gathering of efforts towards a productive goal gained the name of "cumpanis".