recommend English · revision 4415

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1375|origins=la commendare}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌrek.əˈmend/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|recomenden]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[bor|la-med|recommendāre]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from Latin re-, here probably intensive,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) and [[m|la|commendāre|t=to commit to one's care, commend]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the source of [[commend]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Merriam-Webster gives it through Anglo-French recommender.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “To commit, dedicate”, especially oneself or one's soul to God: about 1375 in Barnhart, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,^(Barnhart 1988) and about 1386 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “to praise, present as worthy” is from about 1378, in Piers Plowman,^(Barnhart 1988) 1377 in the OED.^(OED 1989) In Middle and early modern English recommend and the now obsolete recommand were used without distinction for commending someone to another, sending someone's regards and entrusting.^(Barnhart 1988) “To make acceptable or attractive”, as in a quality that recommends a person, is from the 17th century,^(Hoad 1986) and “to advise, urge that something be done” from 1746.^(Etymonline) ''Recommendation'' is from 1408, first as a greeting, borrowed from Old French and Medieval Latin.^(Barnhart 1988) In Yorkshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire and American dialect a recommend was a recommendation.^(Wright 1898)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1375 – to commit to God.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1378 – to praise as worthy.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1408 – ''recommendation''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 17th century – to make acceptable.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * 1746 – to advise.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1806 – noun, a recommendation.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To present as worthy or suitable; to [[endorse]]: ''recommended her for the job''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To [[advise]] or counsel: ''recommended that we leave early''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To make attractive or acceptable: ''a plan with much to recommend it''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To commit to another's care; to [[entrust]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[recommendable]]

+ * [[recommender]]

+ * [[recommendatory]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[recommendation]]

+ * [[commend]]

+ * [[command]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}