NYT Dictionary

COMMAND

/kəˈmænd/
NounVerbcom-MANDcom-mand · 2 syllablesGrade 6

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2022, 2024, 2025

Meaning

An order to do something.

Etymology

Origin: Middle English

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Proto-Indo-European *(s)meh₂-der. Proto-Italic *manus Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰéh₁tder. Proto-Italic *-ðō Proto-Italic *manuðō Latin mandō Latin commendō ▲ Latin mandōinflu. Latin commandāre Old French comanderbor. Middle English comaunden English command From Middle English commanden, commaunden, comaunden, comanden, from Old French comander, from Late Latin commandāre, from Latin commendāre. Ultimately from Latin com- + mandō (whence ultimately also commend (a doublet), mandate, and recommend), from manus + -dō. Compare typologically Russian поручи́ть (poručítʹ), поруче́ние (poručénije), руководи́ть (rukovodítʹ), руководи́тель (rukovodítelʹ) related to рука́ (ruká).

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

behestinjunctiondecreeorderenjoinleadcaptainbiddingcommandcommandment

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 2 recorded puzzles:

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