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comando

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word comando

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1718 a document from Nueva Vizcaya, Mexico More words from the 18th century
Ultimate origin
Latin mandō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French commander
Spanish comandar
Spanish comando
From the same root
French commandant ← commander
Spanish comandante ← comandar

Pronunciation

  • /koˈmando/, [koˈmãn̪.d̪o][1]

Forms

comando m (plural comandos)[1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from Spanish comandar (“to command”).[2][3][4]

The verb is Italian comandare according to the DLE and Wiktionary.[5][1] Corominas, who lists both words among the derivatives of mandar, calls the verb a late military Gallicism, a doublet of encomendar.[6] The Diccionario de Autoridades took the noun itself for an Italian word, comando, recently brought into Spanish.[7] The Italian verb comes from Latin commandō (“to entrust”), a variant of commendō, the source of the popular Spanish form.[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record in Boyd-Bowman's collection is from Nueva Vizcaya in Mexico in 1718, of soldiers debajo del commando “under the command” of a leader.[8] The Diccionario de Autoridades defines it as the same as comandamiento “command” and quotes Silvestre's Proserpina, where a ruler speaks of the legions of soldiers que están a mi comando “who are at my command”.[7]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century the word was used of military command, in the Americas as well as in Spain: records from Santo Domingo (1724) and Mexico (1746) speak of ships and militia under someone's comando.[8] The Academy's dictionaries of the 19th century give it as a synonym of mando, used mostly in military language.[9][10] Domínguez (1846–1847) adds the sailors' terms comando de popa, the authority of the commander and the officers, and comando de proa, that of the boatswain.[11]

The 2001 edition of the Academy's dictionary adds the small group of shock troops sent on raids into enemy territory and the armed group of terrorists, and the DLE also the instruction given to a computer.[4][2] In the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Bolivia a comando is the group that leads an organisation, especially within a political party, and in Argentina and Uruguay a control that works a machine.[12]

Timeline

  • 1718 – first dated record, from Nueva Vizcaya (Mexico), in the sense “military command”.[8]
  • 1724 – records from Santo Domingo of ships under the comando of a lieutenant general.[8]
  • 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades calls it an Italian word, newly introduced.[7]
  • 1846–1847 – Domínguez records the naval terms comando de popa and comando de proa.[11]
  • 1884 – the Academy labels it military: “military command”.[10]
  • 2001 – the Academy's dictionary adds the commando unit and the terrorist group.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A small group of shock troops trained for raids into enemy territory; a commando: Un comando cruzó el río de noche.[2][3][1]
  2. An armed group of terrorists.[2][3]
  3. (military) Military command (mando).[2][3]
  4. (computing) An instruction given to a computer.[2][3]
  5. (Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Bolivia) The group that leads an organisation, especially a political party.[12]
  6. (Argentina, Uruguay) A control that works a machine or device.[12]

Usage notes

The earliest hits under this spelling in the CDH, in Navarrese and Aragonese texts from about 1300, are forms of the old verb comandar “to entrust”, not the noun.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. comando
  3. ^ a b c d e Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. comando
  4. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. comando
  5. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. comandar
  6. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 800
  7. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2
  8. ^ a b c d Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. comando
  9. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 214
  10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 261
  11. ^ a b Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 416
  12. ^ a b c Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. comando
  13. ^ Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. comando
Cite this entry

“Comando.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/comando. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·