Emily Dickinson Lexicon

COM-MAND', n.

1. The right or power of governing with chief or exclusive authority; supreme power; control; as, an officer has a brigade under his command; he takes command of the army in France; an appropriate military term.
2. The power of controlling; governing influence; sway. He assumed an absolute command over his readers. – Dryden.
3. Cogent or absolute authority. Command and force may often create, but can never cure, an aversion. – Locke.
4. The act of commanding; the mandate uttered; order given. The captain gives command. – Dryden.
5. The power of overlooking, or surveying, without obstruction. The sleepy strand, / Which overlooks the vale with wide command. – Dryden.
6. The power of governing or controlling by force, or of defending and protecting; as, the fortress has complete command of the port.
7. That which is commanded; control; as, a body of troops under command. – Marshall.
8. Order, request, message, any communication desired, or sent; a complimentary use.
9. A body of troops, or any naval or military force, under the command of a particular officer.

COM-MAND', v.i.

To have or to exercise supreme authority; to possess the chief power; to govern; as, the general commands with dignity and humanity. What general commands in Canada?

COM-MAND', v.t. [It. comandare; Sp. comandar, mandar; Arm. coumandi; Fr. commander; con, or com, and L. mando, to command, to commit to, Basque manatu; literally, to send to, to send forth, from the same root as commend, demand, and L. moneo. See Class Mn.]

1. To bid; to order; to direct; to charge; implying authority, and power to control, and to require obedience. We will sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us. – Ex. viii. I know that he [Abraham] will command his children and his household after him, and they will keep the way of the Lord. – Gen. xviii
2. To govern, lead, or direct; to have or to exercise supreme authority over; as, Lord Wellington commanded an army in Spain; he command the army at the battle of Waterloo.
3. To have in power; to be able to exercise power or authority over; as, a military post commands the surrounding country; a fort commands the harbor.
4. To overlook, or have in the power of the eye, without obstruction. One side commands a view of the finest garden in the world. – Addison.
5. To direct; to send. The Lord shall command the blessing on thee. – Deut. xxviii. The Lord will command his loving kindness. – Ps. xlii.
6. To have or to exercise a controlling influence over; as, a good magistrate commands the respect and affections of the people.

COM-MAND'A-BLE, a.

That may be commanded.

COM-MAND-ANT', n. [Fr.]

A commander; a commanding officer of a place or of a body of forces. – Smollett.

COM-MAND'A-TO-RY, a.

Having the force of a command.

COM-MAND'ED, pp.

Ordered; directed; governed; controlled.

COM-MAND'ER, n.

1. A chief; one who has supreme authority; a leader; the chief officer of an army, or of any division of it. The term may also be applied to the admiral of a fleet, or of a squadron, or to any supreme officer; as, the commander of the land or of the naval force; the commander of a ship.
2. One on whom is bestowed a benefice or commandry.
3. A heavy beetle or wooden mallet, used in paving, &c. [This gives us the primary sense of L. mando, to send, to drive.]
4. An instrument of surgery. – Wiseman.

COM-MAND'ER-Y, or COM-MAND'RY, n. [Fr. commanderie.]

A kind of benefice or fixed revenue, belonging to a military order, conferred on knights of merit. There are strict and regular commandries, obtained by merit, or in order; and others are of grace and favor, bestowed by the Grand Master. There are also commandries for the religious, in the orders of St. Bernard and St. Anthony. – Encyc.

COM-MAND'ING, ppr.

1. Bidding; ordering; directing with authority; governing; bearing rule; exercising supreme authority; having in power; overlooking without obstruction.
2. adj. Controlling by influence, authority, or dignity; as, a man of commanding manners; a commanding eloquence.

COM-MAND'ING-LY, adv.

In a commanding manner.

COM-MAND'MENT, n.

1. A command; a mandate; an order or injunction given by authority; charge; precept. Why do ye transgress the commandment of God. – Matth. xv. This is the first and great commandment. – Matth. xxii. A new commandment I give to you, that ye love one another. – John xiii.
2. By way of eminence, a precept of the decalogue, or moral law, written on tables of stone, at Mount Sinai; one of the ten commandments. – Ex. xxxiv.
3. Authority; coercive power. – Shak.

COM-MAND'RESS, n.

A woman invested with supreme authority. – Hooker.

COM'MARK, n. [Fr. comarque; Sp. comarca.]

The frontier of a country. – Shelton.

COM-MA-TE'RI-AL, a. [con and material.]

Consisting of the same matter with another thing. – Bacon.

COM-MA-TE-RI-AL'I-TY, n.

Participation of the same matter. – Johnson.

COM-MAT'IC, a.

Brief; concise; pointed with numerous commas.

COM'MA-TISM, n. [from comma.]

Briefness; conciseness in writing. – Bp. Horsley.

COM-MEAS'U-RA-BLE, a. [See Measure.]

Reducible to the same measure. But commensurable is generally used.

COMME-IL-FAUT, adv. [cum il fo; Fr. Comme il faut. or adj.]

As it should be.

COM'ME-LINE, n.

A word proposed to be, but not actually used, as a popular name of a genus of herbaceous plants, Commelina, natives of warm climates. This name was given to this genus by Linnæus, in honor of the Commelins, distinguished botanists of Holland. These plants have flowers with three petals, two large and one small; the large petals representing John and Gaspard Commelin, who published catalogues of plants; the smaller petal representing another of the name who published nothing. – Gloss. de Botanique, De Theis.

COM-MEM'O-RA-BLE, a.

Memorable; worthy to be remembered, or noticed with honor. [See Memorable.]

COM-MEM'O-RATE, v.t. [L. commemoro; con and memoro, to mention. See Memory.]

To call to remembrance by a solemn act; to celebrate with honor and solemnity; to honor, as a person or event, by some act of respect or affection, intended to preserve in the remembrance of that person or event; as, the Lord's supper is designed to commemorate the sufferings and dying love of our Savior.

COM-MEM'O-RA-TED, pp.

Called to remembrance by some act of solemnity.

COM-MEM'O-RA-TING, ppr.

Celebrating with honor by some solemn act.