commandment (n.)

late 13c., "an order from an authority," originally "any one of the ten injunctions engraved upon stone tablets and given to Moses on Mt. Sinai according to Exodus," from Old French comandement "order, command," from Latin *commandamentum, from *commandare (see command (v.)). Pronounced as four syllables until 17c.

Of þe x commandements ... þe first comondement is þis, O God we ssul honuri [c. 1280]

Commandments, short for The Ten Commandments, is attested from early 13c. In Old English they were ða bebodu.

also from late 13c.

Entries linking to commandment

command (v.)

c. 1300, "order or direct with authority" (transitive), from Old French comander "to order, enjoin, entrust" (12c., Modern French commander), from Vulgar Latin *commandare, from Latin commendare "to recommend, entrust to" (see commend); altered by influence of Latin mandare "to commit, entrust" (see mandate (n.)). In this sense Old English had bebeodan.

Intransitive sense "act as or have authority of a commander, have or exercise supreme power" is from late 14c. Also from late 14c. as "have within the range of one's influence" (of resources, etc.), hence, via a military sense, "have a view of, overlook" in reference to elevated places (1690s). Related: Commanded; commanding.

Command-post "headquarters of a military unit" is from 1918. A command performance (1863) is one given by royal command.

Trends of commandment

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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precept

"commandment or direction given as a rule of action," especially "an injunction as to moral conduct," late 14c., from Old French percept, percet (12c.) and directly from Latin praeceptum "maxim, rule of conduct, order," noun use of neuter past participle of praecipere "give rules

Maundy Thursday

inferiors, performed as a religious rite on Maundy Thursday" (early 14c.), from Old French mandé, from Latin mandatum "commandment...be so called in reference to the opening words of the Latin church service for this day, Mandatum novum do vobis "A new commandment...

ban

, announcement," which is from a Germanic language, from Proto-Germanic *bannaz (source also of Old Frisian bon "order, commandment...; jurisdiction, penalty; eternal damnation, excommunication," Old Saxon bann "commandment, prohibition"), from *bannan "to...

set forth

From late 14c. as "prepare and send out, issue" (a commandment, etc.). Of a price from 1520s....

prevarication

late 14c., prevaricacioun, "divergence from a right course, transgression, violation of a law or commandment" (a sense now...

profanity

Extended sense of "foul language" is from Old Testament commandment against "profaning" the name of the Lord....

philosophy

c. 1300, philosophie, "knowledge, learning, scholarship, scholarly works, body of knowledge," from Old French filosofie "philosophy, knowledge" (12c., Modern French philosophie) and directly from Latin philosophia, from Greek philosophia "love of knowledge, pursuit of wisdom; sys

doctrine

late 14c., "the body of principles, dogmas, etc., in a religion or field of knowledge," from Old French doctrine (12c.) "teaching, doctrine" and directly from Latin doctrina "a teaching, body of teachings, learning," from doctor "teacher" (see doctor (n.)) + -ina, fem. of -inus,

bid

probably an early Middle English mutual influence or confusion of two older words: The sense in bid farewell is from Old English biddan "to ask, entreat, beg, pray, beseech; order" (class V strong verb, past tense bæd, past participle beden), from Proto-Germanic *bedjanan "to pra

dictation

1650s, "authoritative utterance," from Late Latin dictationem (nominative dictatio) "a dictating, dictation," noun of action from past-participle stem of dictare "say often, prescribe," frequentative of dicere "to say, speak" (from PIE root *deik- "to show," also "pronounce

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updated on July 04, 2021

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Dictionary entries near commandment

command

commandant

commandeer

commander

commanding

commandment

commando

comme ci, comme ca

comme il faut

commedia dell'arte

commemorate