COMMEND

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does commend mean? 

• COMMEND (verb)
  The verb COMMEND has 5 senses:

1. express approval of

2. present as worthy of regard, kindness, or confidence

3. give to in charge

4. express a good opinion of

5. mention as by way of greeting or to indicate friendship

  Familiarity information: COMMEND used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COMMEND (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they commend    ... he / she / it commends   
Past simple: commended   
Past participle: commended   
-ing form: commending   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Express approval of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "commend" is one way to...):

praise (express approval of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

Sam and Sue commend the movie

Derivation:

commendation (a message expressing a favorable opinion)

commendation (an official award (as for bravery or service) usually given as formal public statement)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Present as worthy of regard, kindness, or confidence

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

His paintings commend him to the artistic world

Hypernyms (to "commend" is one way to...):

portray; present (represent abstractly, for example in a painting, drawing, or sculpture)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

commendation (a message expressing a favorable opinion)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Give to in charge

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

I commend my children to you

Hypernyms (to "commend" is one way to...):

commit; confide; entrust; intrust; trust (confer a trust upon)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sense 4

Meaning:

Express a good opinion of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

commend; recommend

Hypernyms (to "commend" is one way to...):

praise (express approval of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They commend moving

Derivation:

commendation (a message expressing a favorable opinion)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Mention as by way of greeting or to indicate friendship

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

commend; remember

Context example:

Remember me to your wife

Hypernyms (to "commend" is one way to...):

advert; bring up; cite; mention; name; refer (make reference to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody PP

 Context examples 

At the same time, Stanley Hopkins’s methods do not commend themselves to me.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

William was kindly commended and his promotion hoped for.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

He believed he could find magazine publication for it, and he felt that recognition by the magazines would commend him to the book-publishing houses.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

For a small thing it was a great success, and Jo was more astonished than when her novel was commended and condemned all at once.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I showed him over the establishment, not omitting the pantry, with no little pride, and he commended it highly.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“Suppose it were as you suppose, supposing Dr. Jekyll to have been—well, murdered what could induce the murderer to stay? That won’t hold water; it doesn’t commend itself to reason.”

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“Twice have we come scathless out of peril, and now for the third time I commend me to the blessed James of Compostella, to whom I vow—”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This was her history; and particularly interesting it was to Mr. Woodhouse, who commended her very much for thinking of sending for Perry, and only regretted that she had not done it.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

What Elinor said in reply she could not distinguish, but judged from the motion of her lips, that she did not think THAT any material objection;—and Mrs. Jennings commended her in her heart for being so honest.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

He carved, and ate, and praised with delighted alacrity; and every dish was commended, first by him and then by Sir William, who was now enough recovered to echo whatever his son-in-law said, in a manner which Elizabeth wondered Lady Catherine could bear.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)