comando Italian · revision 38293

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=late 12th century, Ritmo di Sant'Alessio (as comandu)|origins=la mandō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /koˈman.do/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''comando''' ''m'' (plural comandi)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old forms include ''comandu'', ''comanno'', ''commando'' and ''chomando''.^(TLIO) Old Italian also had a feminine plural ''comanda''.^(GDLI|3)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a deverbal noun with no suffix, formed from [[comandare]].^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The verb continues [[inh|la-vul|*commandō|alt=*commandāre]], a popular form of [[la|commendō|t=to entrust, hand over]], formed with [[m|la|con-]] from [[m|la|mandō|t=to entrust]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Wiktionary) The verb has its counterparts in [[fr|commander]], [[oc|comandar]] and [[ca|comanar]].^(Nocentini 2010) Spanish borrowed [[m|es|comandar]] from Italian.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is ''comandu'' in the ''Ritmo di Sant'Alessio'', a poem from the Marche of the late 12th century, where a speaker asks a lady to listen to a request: ''estu meu comandu scultare'' (“to hear this command of mine”).^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)^(GDLI|3) The form ''comando'' appears in Dante.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old Italian ''comando'' was an order, a permission, a decree or a divine precept, and also power or rule over others.^(TLIO) The sense “authority to give orders” is dated before 1600 in Bernardo Davanzati, and the military ''comando'', the commander and his staff and their headquarters, before 1861 in Ippolito Nievo.^(DELI 1999) German took ''Kommando'' from Italian in 1614.^(DIFIT)

+

+ Twentieth-century senses are the control of a machine or mechanism (1919) and, in the civil service, the temporary posting of an employee to another office (1950).^(DELI 1999) In sport ''essere al comando'' is to be in the lead.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – ''Comandu'' appears in the ''Ritmo di Sant'Alessio''.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * Before 1321 – Dante uses the form ''comando''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1600 – Bernardo Davanzati uses it for the authority to give orders.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1614 – German ''Kommando'' is first recorded.^(DIFIT)

+ * Before 1861 – Ippolito Nievo uses it for a military command.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1919 – First record of the sense “control of a mechanism”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1950 – First record of the civil-service sense.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|order]], and the words with which it is given: ''Il sergente diede il comando di fermarsi.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # The authority or power to give orders, [[m|en|command]]: ''Il colonnello ha preso il comando della brigata.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(sports)'' The lead in a race or a league table.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(military)'' A command: the commander and his staff, and the place where they work, the [[m|en|headquarters]]: ''Lo portarono al comando dei carabinieri.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(administration)'' The temporary posting of a public employee to another office.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # A [[m|en|control]]: a device that operates a machine or mechanism.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[telecomando]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[comandare]]

+ * [[comandato]]

+ * [[comandante]]

+ * [[comandamento]]

+ * [[commando]]

+ * [[la|commendō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Ai suoi comandi!'' (“at your orders”) answers a call from a superior.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010) ''Comando'' is also a variant spelling of ''commando'', the special military unit.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}