commendation
(kɒmɛnˈdeɪʃən)
Forms: 3 commendaciun, 4–5 co(m)mendacioun, 4–6 -cion, -cyo(u)n, 6 -tioun, 6– commendation.
[a. OF. commendation, -cion, ad. L. commendātiōn-em, n. of action f. commendāre: see commend. The order in which the senses appear in Eng. is not that of the actual development in Lat. and Fr.]
I. General sense: The action of commending.
† 1. Giving in charge, entrusting, committal.
In gen. sense rare, but sense 6 (specialized from this) represents the earliest use of the word.
| 1583 Plat Divers New Exper. (1594) 69 Verie carefull in the commendation of any secrete to his friend. |
2. The expression of approval, recommendation.
| 1393 Gower Conf. III. 145 A tale..Of trouthe in commendacion. c 1400 Rom. Rose 4890 He preyseth Eelde..And more of commendacioun Than youthe in his discripcioun. 1509 Fisher Fun. Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. 289 In the fyrst shall stonde her prayse and commendacyon. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. ii. 275 You haue deseru'd High commendation, true applause, and loue. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. To Rdr., The commendation of adversaries is the greatest triumph. 1757 Johnson Let. Burney 24 Dec. in Boswell, I remember with great pleasure your commendation of my Dictionary. 1876 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. I. iii. ii. 313 Mentioned..in terms of high commendation. |
b. with a and pl.
| 1535 Coverdale Ecclus. xxvi. Contents, A commendacion and prayse of a good honest woman. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 5 If honest commendacions be a iust reward dew to noble enterprises. 1780 Johnson L.P., Congreve, Neither soliciting flattery by publick commendations, nor provoking enmity by malignant criticism. 1851 Longfellow Gold. Leg. iv. Cloisters, Their commendations lag behind the truth. |
† c. pl. = Renown, credit, repute. Obs.
| 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 433 With singular commendations hee had serued..in the French warres. 1662 J. Bargrave Pope Alex. VII (1867) 84 Intrusted..with..considerable offices, which he discharged to his commendations. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 59 Another sort of Steel, of higher commendations than any of the forgoing sorts. |
d. (See quot.).
| 1823 tr. Sismondi's Lit. Eur. (1846) II. xxx. 311 To these different kinds of dramatic performances was added a kind of prologue, called a commendation. |
3. Recommendation of a person to the favourable notice or attention of another. Also in letter of commendation.
| 1555 Eden Decades W. Ind. (Arb.) 204 This letter of owre commendation. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 79 Come..With Commendation from great Potentates. 1601 ― All's Well iv. iii. 92 The Duke hath offered him Letters of commendations to the King. 1829 Southey O. Newman v, The Governor said..His commendation, sir, shall have its weight. 1871 Alabaster Wheel of Law 277 The courtesy our letter of commendation demands from him. |
4. (gen. in pl.) Remembrances sent to those at a distance; respects, compliments, greetings. arch.
| 1529 Wolsey in Four C. Eng. Lett. 10 Aftyr my moste herty commendacions. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 12 The manner of commendations (which with us is retained for an order of Salutation or greeting)..customably is delivered in this forme: After our hearty commendations unto your L. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 98. 1688 Penn. Archives I. 106 After Our very hearty Commendations, It having pleased Almighty God, about Ten of the Clock this morning, to bless his ma{supt}{supy} and His Royal Consort the Queene, with the Birth of a hopefull Son. 1823 Scott Peveril viii, Her uneasiness..was removed, by the arrival of Whitaker, with her husband's commendations. |
† 5. A thing that recommends, a recommendation.
| 1538 Bale God's Promises iii. in Hazl. Dodsley I. 302 Let me show forth thy commendations free. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 136 It was thought a great commendation for a young scholler to make an Oration extempore. 1693 Dryden Juvenal Ded. (J.), Good-nature is the most godlike commendation of a man. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. i. (1709) 96 The Want of Tools and Materials, if the Model is answered, is a Commendation to the Workman. |
II. Special senses.
6. Liturg. (gen. in pl.; also Commendation of Souls) An office originally ending with the prayer Tibi, Domine, commendamus, in which the souls of the dead were commended to God; said both before their burial, and in anniversary or commemorative services. In colleges: see quot. 1709.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 22 A morwen, oþer a niht efter þe suffragiis of Uhtsong, siggeð Commendacium. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 191 Placebo & dirige & comendacion & matynes of oure lady ordeyned of synful men. 1481 Caxton Reynard vi. (Arb.) 11 Whan this vigilye was don and the commendacion she was leyde in the pytte. 1545 Primer Hen. VIII Contents, The Litany. The Dirige. The Commendations. The Psalms of the Passion. 1546 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 31 To say Masse Dirige and Comendacions in the saide Chapell for the sowle of the saide Founder and all Christien sowlez. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. xviii. 224 There was also in Popish times an office used in the colleges at certain times of the year, for the commendations of their benefactors..Now [1560]..was added a reformed Latin commendation of them..a prayer Domine Deus, etc...instead of this prayer in the popish office of commendations, viz. Tibi Domine commendamus. 1849–53 Rock Ch. of Fathers II. 476. |
b. = Commendatory prayer.
| 1885 T. Arnold Cath. Dict. 198/2 Commendation of the soul (Ordo commendationis animæ, a form of prayer for the dying contained in the Roman Ritual. |
7. Feudal Law. The cession by a freeman of himself and his lands to the personal protection of a feudal lord.
| 1818 Hallam Mid. Ages (1872) I. 164 Besides the relation..by beneficiary grants, there was another species more personal..called commendation. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (ed. 3) I. ii. 59 This commendation of Scotland to the West-Saxon King. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. I. v. 79 note, The practice of commendation in England was generally the result of the police organisation. |
8. Eccl. The giving of benefices in commendam; also, the condition of a commendam.
| 1883 Pall Mall G. 16 Feb. 4/1 The Pope..punished them by putting the monastery into commendation. 1885 T. Arnold Cath. Dict. 198/2 s.v. Commenda, Since the destruction of Church property which recent times have witnessed, the practice of commendation has greatly dwindled, if not wholly ceased, throughout Europe. |
III. attrib. † commendation ninepence, a bent nine-penny piece used as a love-token.
| 1663 Butler Hud, i. i. 487 Like Commendation Nine-pence, crookt With to and from my Love, it lookt. [Cf. Gay Sheph. Wk. v. 129.] |