commandant French · revision 16709

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1661, Corneille, Sertorius|origins=la mandō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɔ.mɑ̃.dɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''commandant''' ''m'' (plural ''commandants'', feminine ''commandante''); adjective '''commandant''', '''commandante'''^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the present participle of [[commander]] used as a noun.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary) That verb continues [[la-vul|*commandō]], a remaking of [[m|la|commendō|t=to entrust, commend]] after [[m|la|mandō|t=to hand over, order]]; since Caesar the Latin verb had also meant “to give an order”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Corneille's ''Sertorius'' (1661) uses it for the head of a party.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Pomey (1671) records it for anyone holding a command in an army, ''commandant du régiment'' is in the Cardinal de Retz (1679) and ''commandant en chef'' in 1757.^(TLFi) The strictly military sense of [[commander]] dates from 1573.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Bescherelle (1845) has it for the rank between captain and lieutenant colonel and for the officer in command of a ship.^(GLLF 1989) As an adjective, “commanding”, it is in Molière (1670).^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ English took ''commandant'' in the 1680s for the commanding officer of a fortified town or garrison.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1661 – “Head of a party”, Corneille.^(TLFi)

+ * 1670 – The adjective, Molière.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1671 – Military commander, Pomey.^(TLFi)

+ * 1680s – English ''commandant''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1757 – ''Commandant en chef''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1845 – The rank of major; commander of a ship, Bescherelle.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A military [[m|en|commander]]: ''commandant de place'', ''commandant en chef''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # A [[m|en|major]], the officer between captain and lieutenant colonel (four stripes).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The officer commanding a ship, whatever his rank, ''commandant de bord'', the captain of an aircraft.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(familiar)'' [[m|en|bossy]], fond of giving orders, ''(rare)'' commanding.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

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+ ==Related words==

+ * [[commander]]

+ * [[commandement]]

+ * [[commandeur]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}