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).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kəˈmɑːnd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kəˈmænd/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -ɑːnd, (General American) -ænd
• Hyphenation: com‧mand

command (countable and uncountable, plural commands)

1. An order to do something.

   Synonyms: behest, injunction

   I was given a command to cease shooting.

2. 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.

   • 2013, Barry Strauss, Masters of Command: Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, and the Genius of ..., Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 68:

     It wasn't a decisive operation, and Carthage still had command of Spain.

3. 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.

4. A position of chief authority; a position involving the right or power to order or control.

   General Smith was placed in command.

5. The act of commanding; exercise or authority of influence.
   • 1851, Herbert Spencer, Social Statics, page 180:

     Command cannot be otherwise than savage, for it implies an appeal to force, should force be needful.

6. (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, 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.

   • 1977 August 20, David Brill, “Civil Custody Law Harasses New Bedford Gays”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 7, page 3:

     Filing a complaint against a police officer in New Bedford without the benefit of witnesses is difficult, if not impossible. The police command, from sergeant to chief, is summarily defensive of the actions of police officers.

7. Dominating situation; range or control or oversight; extent of view or outlook.
8. (computing) A directive to a computer program acting as an interpreter of some kind, in order to perform a specific task.
9. (baseball) The degree of control a pitcher has over his pitches.

   He's got good command tonight.

10. 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.

• imperative mood

• Command on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

command (third-person singular simple present commands, present participle commanding, simple past and past participle commanded)

1. (ambitransitive) To order, give orders; to compel or direct with authority.

   Coordinate term: countermand

   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:

     We are commanded to forgive our enemies, but you never read that we are commanded to forgive our friends.

   • 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]:

     Go to your mistress: / Say, I command her come to me.

2. (ambitransitive) To have or exercise supreme power, control or authority over, especially military; to have under direction or control.

   Synonym: lead

   to command an army or a ship

   • 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:

     Monmouth commanded the English auxiliaries.

   • 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]:

     Such aid as I can spare you shall command.

3. (transitive) To require with authority; to demand, order, enjoin.

   he commanded silence

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 4:3:

     If thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

   • 2013 August 20, Louise Taylor, The Guardian‎^[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.

4. (transitive) to dominate through ability, resources, position etc.; to overlook.

   Bridges commanded by a fortified house. (Motley.)

   This observation deck commands a breathtaking view of San Francisco Bay.

5. (transitive) To exact, compel or secure by influence; to deserve, claim.

   A good magistrate commands the respect and affections of the people.

   Justice commands the respect and affections of the people.

   The best goods command the best price.

   This job commands a salary of £30,000.

   • 1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 36:

     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.

6. (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:

     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, [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.

7. (ambitransitive, archaic) To have a view (of), as from a superior position.
   • 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:

     Farr and wide his eye commands.

   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

     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.

   • 1957 August, H. A. Vallance, “By Rail to the Norwegian Arctic”, in Railway Magazine, page 575:

     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.

8. (obsolete) To direct to come; to bestow.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Leviticus 25:21:

     I will command my blessing upon you.

• (give an order): decree, order, enjoin

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “command”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “command”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.