com·mand (kə-mănd')

v., -mand·ed, -mand·ing, -mands.

v.tr.

1. To direct with authority; give orders to.
2. To have control or authority over; rule: a general who commands an army.
3. To have at one's disposal: a person who commands seven languages.
4. To deserve and receive as due; exact: The troops' bravery commanded respect.
5. 1. To exercise dominating, authoritative influence over: "He commands any room he enters" (Stephen Schiff).
   2. To dominate by physical position; overlook: a mountain commanding the valley below.

v.intr.

1. To give orders.
2. To exercise authority or control as or as if one is a commander.

n.

1. The act of commanding.
2. An order given with authority.
3. Computer Science. A signal that initiates an operation defined by an instruction.
4. 1. The authority to command: an admiral in command.
   2. Possession and exercise of the authority to command: command of the seas.
5. Ability to control or use; mastery: command of four languages.
6. Dominance by location; extent of view.
7. 1. The jurisdiction of a commander.
   2. A military unit, post, district, or region under the control of one officer.
   3. A unit of the U.S. Air Force that is larger than an air force.

adj.

1. Of, relating to, or constituting a command: command headquarters; a command decision.
2. Done or performed in response to a command: a command performance.

[Middle English commaunden, from Old French comander, from Late Latin commandāre : Latin com-, intensive pref.; see com- + Latin mandāre, to entrust.]

commandable com·mand'a·ble adj.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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