recommend

English

Etymology

From Middle English recommenden, from Old French recommender (compare French recommander), from Latin re- + commendāre (“to commend, commit; to recommend”), from con- +‎ mandāre (“commit, intrust, enjoin”), from manus (“hand, handwriting, power”) +‎ dare (“to give; to offer or render”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ɹɛkəˈmɛnd/

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnd
• Hyphenation: rec‧om‧mend

Verb

recommend (third-person singular simple present recommends, present participle recommending, simple past and past participle recommended)

1. (transitive) To bestow commendation on; to represent favourably; to suggest, endorse or encourage as an appropriate choice.

   The board recommends Philips, given his ample experience in similar positions.

2. (transitive) To make acceptable; to attract favor to.

   A city that has much to recommend it.

3. (transitive) To advise, propose, counsel favorably

   The therapist recommends resting the mind and exercising the body.

   My therapist recommended that I rest the mind and exercise the body.

4. (transitive, archaic) To commit, confide to another's care, confidence or acceptance, with favoring representations

   A medieval oblate's parents recommended the boy for life to God and the monastery.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:advise

Antonyms

• deprecate
• disrecommend
• discourage
• disapprove
• oppose

Derived terms

Related terms

• recommendation

Translations

Noun

recommend (plural recommends)

1. (colloquial) A recommendation.
   • 1896 November – 1897 May, Rudyard Kipling, “Captains Courageous”, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, published 1897, →OCLC:

     "I'm glad to have a recommend from that quarter. Airheart's skipper of the San Jose now. […] "

Anagrams

• commender

Middle English

Verb

recommend

1. Alternative form of recommenden