recommendation
(ˌrɛkəmənˈdeɪʃən)
[a. OF. recommendation (F. recommand-), or med.L. recommendatiōn-em (1270 in Du Cange), n. of action f. recommendāre to recommend.]
† 1. The action of recommending oneself to another's remembrance; a message of this nature. Obs.
| 1450 Paston Lett. I. 135 After al due recomendacion, I recomaund me to yow. 1478 in Surtees Misc. (1888) 37 We..sendes gretyng..& recommendaccin unto whome it seruys. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1025, I you pray to do my most humble recommendations to the good grace of the Kyng. 1634 Malory's Arthur ii. cxlv, The letter..said thus..I send to all Knights arraunt recommendation. |
| attrib. 1552 Huloet s.v., Recommendation brynger, salutifer. |
† 2. The action of recommending or committing to another's care; hence, care, protection.
Obs.| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 100/2 The fourth [privilege] is the recomendacion of the moder of god. a 1533 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. 91 b, Remembre she is..thy mother adoptife..wherfore I leue her vnder thy recommendation. 1557 M. Basset tr. More's Treat. Passion M.'s Wks. 1400/1 At hys recommendacion [he] tooke hir from thencefoorth as hys owne [mother]. |
† 3. Commendation, favour, repute, esteem.
Obs.| 1474 Caxton Chesse (ed. 2) A ij, It is a werke of ryght special recomendacion. 1481 ― Myrr. iii. xiii. 164 They that gladly myssaye of peple of recommendacion. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxxxi. 314 They..were..well receyued,..bycause they were lordes and knightes of great recommendacion. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. xvii. 102 b, The Turkes haue aboue all thinges charitie in greate recommendation. |
4. a. The action of recommending a person or thing as worthy or desirable. Also, that which is recommended; a proposal or suggestion.
| 1578 Reg. Privy Council Scot. III. 25 [He must proceed by himself] uncareing langer for thair recommendatioun of ony [person]. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iii. iii. 74 It is not..that either fauour or recommendation shal stand them in steed for the aduancing of them to any higher degree. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xlii. 296 Kings..may receive Schoolmasters for their Subjects from the recommendation of a stranger. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 94 ¶5 Buying at his Shop upon my Recommendation. 1778 Foote Trip Calais ii. Wks. 1799 II. 354 You have a notion that I should bring a..fortune to this spouse of your recommendation? 1841 Elphinstone Hist. Ind. II. ix. iii. 323 He had no..restrictions about food, except a recommendation of abstinence, as tending to exalt the mind. 1911 G. B. Shaw Doctor's Dilemma 299 How this was effected may be gathered from the recommendations finally agreed on. 1929 Star 21 Aug. 19/1 It is interesting to record that some of our recommendations have duly improved in capital value. 1976 Daily Tel. 20 July 2/3 A report following a public enquiry into the disaster made a number of observations and recommendations. |
b. letter of recommendation, a letter recommending a person; in later use, a letter of introduction.
Cf. recommendatory a. 1 b. Also
fig.| 1494 Fabyan Chron. v. cxv. 89 He..sent to hym a great summe of golde, with letters of recommendacion, exortynge hym [etc.]. 1548 Elyot, Commendatitiæ literæ, letters of recommendacion. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) II. 48 An honest, ingenious look is a good letter of recommendation, of itself. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 130 The Duke of Holstein..gave him Letters of Recommendation to the Great Duke of Muscovy. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 31 The Dutch captain would..give us a letter of recommendation to the governor. 1810 J. Adams Wks. (1854) IX. 626 His conduct to our President..is not, however, a letter of recommendation of his temper, policy, or discretion. 1870 Burton Hist. Scot. VI. lx. 55 note, They complained that the ambassador had only a letter of recommendation in place of a letter of credit. |
c. A letter or certificate of recommendation.
| 1645 Evelyn Diary May (Bologna), I enquired out a priest and Dr. Montalbano, to whom I brought recom'endations from Rome. 1802 James Milit. Dict., Recommendation, in a military sense, a certificate, stating an individual to be properly qualified for a situation in the army. |
5. That which procures a favourable reception or acceptance.
| 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §14 Upon no other advantage or recommendation, than of the Beauty..of his Person. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xii, ‘That is no recommendation at all’, replied her aunt. 1858 Froude Hist. Eng. IV. xviii. 101 His recommendation had been his connexion with a powerful native family. |
6. Exhortation, advice.
| 1585 Earl of Leicester in Motley Netherl. (1860) I. v. 280, I would he were in Fort Rammekyns..with a recommendation from me to Russell to look well to him. |