command
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /kəˈmɑːnd/
ipa: /kəˈmænd/
rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -ɑːnd
rhymes: (General American) -ænd
Forms: form: commands
form: commanding
form: commanded
form: commanded
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: command
form: command
form: commanded
form: command
form: commandest
form: commanded
form: commandedst
form: commands
form: commandeth
form: commanded
form: command
form: commanded
form: command
form: commanded
form: command
form: -
form: commanding
form: commanded
Etymology: From Middle English commanden, commaunden, comaunden, comanden, from Old French comander, from Late Latin commandāre, from Latin commendāre. Ultimately from Latin com- + mandō (whence ultimately also commend (a doublet), mandate, and recommend), from manus + -dō.
Compare typologically Russian поручи́ть (poručítʹ), поруче́ние (poručénije), руководи́ть (rukovodítʹ), руководи́тель (rukovodítelʹ) related to рука́ (ruká).
Senses: examples: text: The soldier was commanded to cease firing.
text: The king commanded his servant to bring him dinner.
text: We are commanded to forgive our enemies, but you never read that we are commanded to forgive our friends.
ref: 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Revenge”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:
text: Go to your mistress: / Say, I command her come to me.
ref: c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
coordinate_terms: countermand
glosses: To order, give orders; to compel or direct with authority.
examples: text: to command an army or a ship
text: Monmouth commanded the English auxiliaries.
ref: 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter II, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC:
text: Such aid as I can spare you shall command.
ref: 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene v]:
synonyms: lead
glosses: To have or exercise supreme power, control or authority over, especially military; to have under direction or control.
examples: text: he commanded silence
text: If thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 4:3:
text: The reasons for this growing disconnect are myriad and complex but the situation is exacerbated by the reality that those English players who do smash through our game's "glass ceiling" command radically inflated transfer fees.
ref: 2013 August 20, Louise Taylor, The Guardian:
glosses: To require with authority; to demand, order, enjoin.
examples: text: Bridges commanded by a fortified house. (Motley.)
text: This observation deck commands a breathtaking view of San Francisco Bay.
glosses: to dominate through ability, resources, position etc.; to overlook.
examples: text: A good magistrate commands the respect and affections of the people.
text: Justice commands the respect and affections of the people.
text: The best goods command the best price.
text: This job commands a salary of £30,000.
text: Was the family prostrated by grief? Was the sorrow at Mrs. Inglethorp’s death so great? I realized that there was an emotional lack in the atmosphere. The dead woman had not the gift of commanding love. Her death was a shock and a distress, but she would not be passionately regretted.
ref: 1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 36:
glosses: To exact, compel or secure by influence; to deserve, claim.
examples: text: The fort commanded the bay.
text: Two wooden bridges led across the river; each was commanded by a fortified house
ref: 1856, John Lothrop Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic. A History. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
text: Up to the eastern tower, / Whose height commands as subject all the vale.
ref: c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
text: December 1699, Joseph Addison, letter to William Congreve
One [side] commands a view of the finest garden.
text: […] they made considerable progress in the art of embalming the wild fruits of their native land, so that they might command cranberries and hindberries at all times and seasons.
ref: 1834, The Hobart Town Magazine, volume 2, page 323:
glosses: To hold, to control the use of.
examples: text: Farr and wide his eye commands.
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
text: I pulled in hand over hand on the cord, and when I judged myself near enough, rose at infinite risk to about half my height and thus commanded the roof and a slice of the interior of the cabin.
ref: 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
text: Snowsheds and snow fences protect the line on either side of Semskfjell, but the country soon begins to lose some of its bleakness, and the tree line is regained at Lønsdal (1,680 ft. above sea-level), where the line is high on a hillside, commanding widespread views of the mountains.
ref: 1957 August 24, H. A. Vallance, “By Rail to the Norwegian Arctic”, in Railway Magazine, page 575:
glosses: To have a view (of), as from a superior position.
examples: text: I will command my blessing upon you.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 25:21:
glosses: To direct to come; to bestow.
Synonyms: sense: give an order
word: decree
sense: give an order
word: order
sense: give an order
word: enjoin
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: chain of command
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: commandability
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: commandable
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: command economy
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: commandeer
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: commander
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: commandery
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: command guidance
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: commanding
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: commandism
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: Command key
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: command language
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: command line
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: commandment
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: command module
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: command performance
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: command post
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: countercommand
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: high command
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: second in command
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: self-command
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: trains command
sense: Terms derived from the noun or verb command
word: your wish is my command