comandare

Forms

comandare (first-person singular present comàndo, first-person singular past historic comandài, past participle comandàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *commandāre, a popular form beside the classical commendō (“to entrust, commit”), which was made up again from its parts com- and mandō (“to entrust”).^[2][3][4][5] DEI and the LEI note that this form is already recorded as a variant in Late Latin.^[6][7][1]

The re-formed verb spread over most of the Romance area: French commander, Occitan comandar, Catalan comanar, Spanish comandar.^[3][8] The older verb survives in Romanian, Old Campidanese Sardinian, Old Spanish and Portuguese.^[6][8] Together with a Latin verb meaning “to order”, the new form replaced Latin iubeō and imperō, which were harsher words.^[6] The noun comando was formed from the verb without a suffix.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is an Umbrian confession formula from Norcia of 1065.^[9] DELI's first date is a 13th-century translation by Rainerio da Perugia, in the sense “to impose, order”, which the TLIO describes as expressing one's will and requiring that it be carried out.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the verb for commissioning a work, for being in a position of command, and in polite questions offering service to a superior.^[9] It could also mean “to entrust, recommend”, the sense of the Latin verb, as in the farewell a Dio vi comando “I commend you to God”.^[10][7]

Machiavelli, before 1527, used it for posting someone to a new task or place and, intransitively, for imposing one's will.^[2] In 1918 Panzini recorded the technical sense of controlling a machine or mechanism.^[2]

Timeline

• 1065 – An Umbrian confession formula from Norcia has the first record.^[9]
• 13th century – Rainerio da Perugia's translation uses it for “to order”.^[2]
• Before 1527 – Machiavelli uses it for posting someone and, intransitively, for being in command.^[2]
• 1918 – Panzini records the sense “to control a mechanism”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To order, to tell someone with authority to do something: comandò alle guardie di aprire il cancello.^[4][5][11]
2. To order at a restaurant or shop;^[4][5] comandi! answers a superior's call.^[4][5]
3. To require, call for: il momento comanda calma.^[4]
4. To command, lead: comandare un reggimento; intransitively, to be in charge: in famiglia comanda la nonna.^[4][5][11]
5. To assign someone to another office or task.^[4][5][2]
6. (engineering) To control a mechanism: un pedale comanda la frizione.^[4][2][1]

Word family

• comando
• comandante
• comandamento
• comanda
• comandata
• comandabile
• ricomandare
• raccomandare

Related words

• mandare
• commendare
• Latin commendō
• French commander

Usage notes

Come Dio comanda means “properly, as it should be done”, and comandare a bacchetta means to boss people about.^[4][11] Al cuore non si comanda says that feelings cannot be ordered.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1025
7. ^ a b Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 15, 1417
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 312
11. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli