commandment
(kəˈmɑːndmənt, -æ-)
Forms: α. 3–4 comande-, comonde-, 3–7 commandement, 4–6 comaunde-, 4–7 commaundement(e, (5 commaw(u)nde-, cummaunde-, cummawndement, 5–6 Sc. commandiment, -yment); also β. 4– commandment, (4 cumand-, komaund-), 4–5 comand-, 5 comaund-, 5–6 commaund-; and γ. 4 comanment, co(m)mament, -mend.
[a. OF. com-, commandement (= Pr. comandamen, It. commandamento):—L. type *commandāmentum, f. commandāre: see command v. and -ment. Originally 4 syllables; still so found in 16–17th c. writers, and in 19th c. dialect-speech from Scotland to W. Somerset. But the trisyllabic form appeared already in 13th c., and became prevalent in the literary lang. in 17–18th c. In early times there was a tendency to put a stress on the first syllable, and weaken the second to -ăn-, -ă- as in the Cotton MS. of Cursor Mundi.
Spenser has commandement (4 syllables); Shakes., lst fol., the same 4 times, command'ment 6 times, commandment 3 times. Drummond has it of 4 syllables, Milton and Pope of 3. Cf. the following examples:
α. a 1300 Cursor M. 6481 (Gött) Þis er comandementis ten. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 67 But conseillyng is nat comandement. 1556 in W. H. Turner Sel. Rec. Oxford 249 No other commaundyment or procurement. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. iii. 11 So greatly his commaundement they feare. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. iii. 20 From him I haue expresse commandement. 1822 Nares Gloss., Commandement, in four syllables. I think I have heard it so spoken by old persons. 1825–79 Jamieson, Commandiment..This pronunciation still prevails among the peasantry in Scotland. 1888 W. Somerset Word-bk., Commanyment. [Commandement of 4 syllables in Scotch Psalms in Metre (made c 1564), and still (1890) so sung.]
β. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1084 Þemperours komaundment was kud al aboute. 1483 Cath. Angl. 72 A Commaundment, mandatum. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. iii. 142 The Lawes of England are at my command'ment. 1611 ― Wint. T. ii. ii. 8 To the contrary I haue expresse commandment. 1671 Milton P.R. iv. 176 The first of all commandments, Thou shalt worship The Lord thy God.
γ. a 1300 Cursor M. 650 (Cott.) Þat dos her will mi commandment. Ibid. 662 Þat ȝee ne brek mi commament. Ibid. 11720 His comanment was noght vndon. c 1320 Seuyn Sages (W.) 3446 His cumandment bilyue was done.]
1. An authoritative order or injunction; a precept given by authority. (arch.)
| c 1250 O.E. Misc. 33 Se sergant dede þes lordes commandement. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xvi. 376 Whan the barons herde the commaundemente of the kyng. 1542 Boorde Dyetary xl. (1870) 302 He that doth not the commaundements of his physycyon, doth kyll hym self. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. ii. ii. 8 To the contrary I haue expresse commandment. 1759 Robertson Hist. Scot. I. iii. 180 Called by the express commandment of the king. 1868 Milman St. Paul's x. 252 A commandment came for the Clergy..to meet at St. Paul's. |
† b. A commission or charge. Obs.
| 1592 West Symbol. B j, A Commaundement or Commission Mandatum is a contract by consent to do something gratis. |
2. esp. A divine command.
| c 1325 Metr. Hom. 14 Crist gifes us wille His comandmenz to fulfille. c 1440 York Myst. x. 245 To goddis cummaundement I sall enclyne. 1611 Bible Gen. xxvi. 5 Abraham..kept my charge, my Commandements, my Statutes and my Lawes. a 1699 Stillingfl. Wks. IV. iii. (R.), A sincere..endeavour to please God and keep his commandments. 1860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. vii. iv. 154 The law is, ‘Do this always’; the commandment, ‘Do thou this now’. |
b. spec. (pl.) The Ten Commandments or precepts of the Mosaic Decalogue.
Often applied to the table or tables of these required by law to be publicly set up in English parish churches.
| c 1280 E.E.P. (1862) 16 Of þe x commandemens..þe first comondement is þis, O God we ssul honuri. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 6056 Þat keped noght þe comandmentes ten. c 1440 York Myst. xx. 139 Whilke callest þou þe firste comaundment? 1560 Queen Elizabeth Let. in Cardwell Doc. Annals No. lv, To order that the tables of the commandments may be comlye set or hung up in the east end of the chauncell. 1561 Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 103 Paid for the table of commaundementes and the new kalender..xviijd. 1637 Sc. Prayer Bk., Communion, Then shall the Presbyter, turning to the people, rehearse distinctly all the Ten Commandements. 1766 Entick London IV. 88 An altar piece gilt and carved, with a glory and the king's arms above the commandments. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits Wks. (Bohn) II. 46 They will let you break all the commandments, if you do it natively, and with spirit. |
c. Hence, the new commandment of Jesus Christ.
| 1534 Tindale John xiii. 34 A newe commaundement [Wyclif maundement] geve I vnto you, that ye love togedder [Rhem. one an other], as I have loved you. |
d. Also used allusively of other sets of rules, implying that they take the place of the Decalogue: so, jestingly or ironically, the new commandment, the eleventh commandment.
| a 1577 Gascoigne (title), The Wyll of the Deuyll; with his ten detestable Commaundementes, directed to his obedient and accursed chyldren. 1615 (title), Pope Paulus V..His Ten Commandments, given to Marquis Spinola, in English, together with the Dutch original. 1884 Pall Mall G. 10 Sept. 1/1 The new and great commandment that nothing succeeds like success. 1886 Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Paston Carew iii, He had learned the eleventh commandment [do not tell tales out of school] to the echo, and was the safest confidant to be found within the four seas. [The ‘eleventh commandment’ of modern cynicism is ‘Thou shalt not be found out’.] |
3. slang. the ten commandments: the ten fingernails or ‘claws’ (esp. of a woman). In frequent use c 1600; in mod. writers chiefly after Shakespeare.
| c 1540 J. Heywood Four P's in Hazl. Dodsley I. 381, I beseech him that high sits, Thy wife's ten commandments may search thy five wits. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. iii. 145 Could I come neere your Beautie with my Nayles, I could set my ten Commandements in your face. 1595 Locrine iv. ii, Fearing she would set her ten commandments in my face. 1607 Dekker Westw. Hoe v. iv, Your harpy..set his ten commandments upon my back. 1814 Scott Wav. xxx, I'll set my ten commandments in the face o' the first loon that lays a finger on him. 1830 Marryat King's Own xl, I'll write the ten commandments on your face. 1842 Longfellow Sp. Stud. iii. v, In with you, and be busy with the ten commandments, under the sly. |
† 4. The action or fact of commanding; bidding, command. Obs.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1303, I schal kysse at your comaundement. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 106 Swoor..That she wol been at his comandement. c 1400 Mandeville v. (1839) 43 Abraham departed, be Commandement of the Aungelle. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 118 Teares which they haue at commaundement. 1676 W. Hubbard Happiness of People 2 All their Brethren were at their Commandment. |
† 5. Authority, sway, sovereignty, control; military command. Obs.
| 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 124 The Closet, whereof another hath both the key, use and commandement. 1595 Shakes. John iv. ii. 92 Haue I commandement on the pulse of life? 1614 Raleigh Hist. World iii. 66 The Athenians, who affected the first commandement in that warre. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farm 658 The commaundement, or vse and profit of it [woodland] are longer time in purchasing, and more hardly come by, than that of Corne and Vines. 1640–1 Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855) 15 Your own raigement, whilk is to come furth under the commandement of my Lord Kirkcudbryt. |
† b. A district under command. Obs.
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. iv. (1682) 162 The Turkish Emperours divide the same [lands] in Timars or commandments leaving little or nothing at all to the ancient Inhabitants. |
† 6. Commanding situation. Also concr. in Fortif. = command, n. 6. Obs.
| a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 105 Within portes and places of commandiment, and whare that schippis mycht be arreisted. 1706 Phillips, Commandment..It is a Height of nine Foot, which one Place has over another. [So Bailey.] |
† 7. Old Law. ‘The offence of inducing another to transgress the law’ (Wharton Law Lex.). Obs.
| 1613 Sir H. Finch Law (1636) 447 Such as are accused of receit of felons, of commandement, or force, or of aid in felonie done. 1641 Termes de la Ley 65 Commandement is againe used for the offence of him that willeth another man to transgresse the Law. |
† b. A summary order for committal to prison.
| 1590 Three Lords & Ladies Lond. i. in Hazl. Dodsley VI. 488, I have done none offence, though it please them to imprison me, and it is but on commandment. 1641 Termes de la Ley 65 The commandement of the K. when by his meere motion, and from his owne mouth hee casteth any man into prison..or of the Justices: and this commandement of the Justices is either absolute or odinarie. |
8. Comb., as commandment-breaking.
| 1886 Pall Mall. G. 30 Sept. 3/1 If we should take it into our heads to do the commandment-breaking. |