commando English · revision 1915

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kəˈmɑːndəʊ/ ''(UK)''; /kəˈmændoʊ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|af|kommando]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|nl|commando|t=command, a troop under a commander]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) which the AHD and Merriam-Webster trace to [[es|comando]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) and Barnhart, Etymonline and Random House to [[pt|commando]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) from the verb meaning “to command”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) It is related to [[command]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In South Africa, a party called out for military service; a raid or expedition, especially one made by the Boers (1791).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline) In the South African War (1899–1902) a commando was a unit of the Boer army.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) In 1940 the word was given to British shock troops trained to repel the threatened German invasion,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and so to members of such units and similar special raiding forces;^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) this use is first attested in the writings of Winston Churchill.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1791 – a Boer raid or expedition.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1824 – ''on commando'', on militia service.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1899 – a unit of the Boer army.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1940 – a specially trained raiding soldier or force.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small military force trained for quick, destructive [[raid|alt=raids]] into enemy territory.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A member of such a force.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(South Africa, historical)'' An organized force of [[Boer]] troops, or a raid made by them.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[command]]

+ * [[commander]]

+ * [[commandant]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}