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Contents
command definition
Overview
This page has 18 definitions of command in English. Command is a noun and verb. Examples of how to use command in a sentence are shown. Also define these 0 related words and terms: .
English
Etymology
From Middle English commanden, commaunden, comaunden, comanden, from Old French comander (modern French commander), from Vulgar Latin *commandare, from Latin commendare, from com- + mandare, from mandō (“I order, command”). Compare commend (a doublet), and mandate.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kəˈmɑːnd/
- (General American) IPA(key): /kəˈmænd/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -ɑːnd, (General American) -ænd
- Hyphenation: com‧mand
Noun
command (countable and uncountable, plural commands)
- An order to do something.
- I was given a command to cease shooting.
- The right or authority to order, control or dispose of; the right to be obeyed or to compel obedience.
- to have command of an army
- 1822, Alden Bradford, History of Massachusetts ..., Richardson and Lord, page 41:
- GAGE, at that time, had command of troops near the lakes; and fearing an attack from the Indians, had called for some new recruits from Massachusetts; but the Assembly judged them not necessary.
- power of control, direction or disposal; mastery.
- he had command of the situation
- England has long held command of the sea
- a good command of language
- 1985, Peter Iverson, The Plains Indians of the Twentieth Century, University of Oklahoma Press, →ISBN, page 93:
- The Indians had command of the lands and the waters — command of all their beneficial use, whether kept for hunting, 'and grazing roving herds of stock,' or turned to agriculture and the arts of civilization.
- A position of chief authority; a position involving the right or power to order or control.
- General Smith was placed in command.
- The act of commanding; exercise or authority of influence.
- 1851, Herbert Spencer, Social Statics, p. 180
- Command cannot be otherwise than savage, for it implies an appeal to force, should force be needful.
- 1851, Herbert Spencer, Social Statics, p. 180
- (military) A body or troops, or any naval or military force, under the control of a particular officer; by extension, any object or body in someone's charge.
- 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], OCLC 1042815524, part I:
- I asked myself what I was to do there, now my boat was lost. As a matter of fact, I had plenty to do in fishing my command out of the river.
- Dominating situation; range or control or oversight; extent of view or outlook.
- (computing) A directive to a computer program acting as an interpreter of some kind, in order to perform a specific task.
- (baseball) The degree of control a pitcher has over his pitches.
- He's got good command tonight.
- A command performance.
- 1809, Dorothy Jordan, letter, cited in Claire Tomalin, Mrs Jordan's Profession, Penguin 2012, p. 220:
- Atkinson […] had hinted to me that the Duke of Richmond was so delighted with my acting that he should not be surprised if there was a second command.
- 1809, Dorothy Jordan, letter, cited in Claire Tomalin, Mrs Jordan's Profession, Penguin 2012, p. 220:
Translations
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See also
References
Verb
command (third-person singular simple present commands, present participle commanding, simple past and past participle commanded)
- (transitive, intransitive) To order, give orders; to compel or direct with authority.
- The soldier was commanded to cease firing.
- The king commanded his servant to bring him dinner.
- 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Revenge”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, OCLC 863521290:
- We are commanded to forgive our enemies, but you never read that we are commanded to forgive our friends.
- c. 1590–1592, 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 606515358, [Act V, scene ii]:
- Go to your mistress: / Say, I command her come to me.
- (transitive, intransitive) To have or exercise supreme power, control or authority over, especially military; to have under direction or control.
- to command an army or a ship
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 2, 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 1069526323:
- Monmouth commanded the English auxiliaries.
- 1591, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene v]:
- Such aid as I can spare you shall command.
- (transitive) To require with authority; to demand, order, enjoin.
- he commanded silence
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Matthew 4:3:
- If thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
- 2013, Louise Taylor, English talent gets left behind as Premier League keeps importing (in The Guardian, 20 August 2013)[1]
- 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.
- (transitive) to dominate through ability, resources, position etc.; to overlook.
- Bridges commanded by a fortified house. (Motley.)
- (transitive) To exact, compel or secure by influence; to deserve, claim.
- (transitive) To hold, to control the use of.
- The fort commanded the bay.
- 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 1138660207:
- Two wooden bridges led across the river; each was commanded by a fortified house
- 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 606515358, [Act I, scene ii]:
- Up to the eastern tower, / Whose height commands as subject all the vale.
- December 1699, Joseph Addison, letter to William Congreve
- One [side] commands a view of the finest garden.
- 1834, The Hobart Town Magazine (volume 2, page 323)
- […] 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.
- (intransitive, archaic) To have a view, as from a superior position.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- Farr and wide his eye commands.
- (obsolete) To direct to come; to bestow.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Leviticus 25:21:
- I will command my blessing upon you.
Synonyms
Translations
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Derived terms
- chain of command
- commandable
- command economy
- commandeer
- commander
- commandery
- command guidance
- commanding
- commandism
- command key
- command language
- command line
- commandment
- command module
References
- command in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- “command”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.