Etymologically
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commando

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kəˈmɑːndəʊ/ (UK); /kəˈmændoʊ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Afrikaans kommando,[2][3][4][5] from Dutch commando (“command, a troop under a commander”),[2][3][4] which the AHD and Merriam-Webster trace to Spanish comando,[2][4] and Barnhart, Etymonline and Random House to Portuguese commando,[3][6][5] from the verb meaning “to command”.[2][3][4][5] It is related to command.[2][6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In South Africa, a party called out for military service; a raid or expedition, especially one made by the Boers (1791).[7][3][6]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline quotes a 1791 account of a colonist asking the governor for a commando, a permission to recover stolen cattle with his neighbours' help.[6] In the South African War (1899–1902) a commando was a unit of the Boer army.[7][2][4] In 1940 the word was given to British shock troops trained to repel the threatened German invasion,[7][6] and so to members of such units and similar special raiding forces;[7][5] this use is first attested in the writings of Winston Churchill.[3][6]

Timeline

  • 1791 – a Boer raid or expedition.[7][3][6]
  • 1824 – on commando, on militia service.[7]
  • 1899 – a unit of the Boer army.[7]
  • 1940 – a specially trained raiding soldier or force.[7][3][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A small military force trained for quick, destructive raids into enemy territory.
  2. A member of such a force.
  3. (South Africa, historical) An organized force of Boer troops, or a raid made by them.
  • command
  • commander
  • commandant

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press