English
recommend
Recommend comes from Middle English recommenden ‘to entrust’, from Old French recommender, from Latin re- + commendō ‘to commend’, from mandō ‘to order, entrust’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmandō1‘to order, command; to put in hand’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommendō1‘to commend, entrust’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400recommender1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500recommenden1‘to entrust’
- Englishearliest quotation 1896recommend1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English recommend
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1896, – 1897 May, Captains Courageous: “"I'm glad to have a recommend from that quarter.…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmandōWiktionary, English recommend‘to order, command; to put in hand’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommendōWiktionary, English recommend‘to commend, entrust’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400recommenderWiktionary, English recommend
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500recommendenWiktionary, English recommend‘to entrust’
- Englishearliest quotation 1896recommendWiktionary, English recommend. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1896, – 1897 May, Captains Courageous: “"I'm glad to have a recommend from that quarter.…”
A compound of manus ‘hand, handwriting, power’ + dare ‘to give’
Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂- ‘to beckon’
Proto-Italic *manus ‘hand’
Latin manus ‘hand, handwriting, power’
Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- ‘give’
Proto-Indo-European *dédeh₃ti ‘to be giving’
Proto-Italic *didō ‘to give’
Latin dō ‘to give’
Linked words
through Latin commendāre ‘to commend, commit’
Today it means
verb To bestow commendation on; to represent favorably; to suggest, endorse or encourage as an appropriate choice.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “recommend”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin mandō / recommend