The term comrade is used to mean “friend”, “mate”, “colleague”, or “ally”, and derives from the Iberian Romance language term camarada, literally meaning “chamber mate”, from Latin camera “chamber” or “room”. A political use of the term was inspired by the French Revolution, after which it grew into a form of address between socialists and workers. Ever since the Russian Revolution, popular media in the Western World have often associated it with Communism. (source)