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Commanding

 - 5 dictionary results
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com⋅mand⋅ing

  [kuh-man-ding, -mahn-]
Use Commanding in a Sentence
–adjective
1. being in command: a commanding officer.
2. appreciably superior or imposing; winning; sizable: a commanding position; a commanding lead in the final period.
3. having the air, tone, etc., of command; imposing; authoritative: a man of commanding appearance; a commanding voice.
4. dominating by position, usually elevation; overlooking: a commanding bluff at the mouth of the river.
5. (of a view, or prospect) provided by a commanding location and so permitting dominance: a commanding view of the mouth of the river.
Origin:
1475–85; command + -ing 2

Related forms:
com⋅mand⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
com⋅mand⋅ing⋅ness, noun
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com⋅mand

  [kuh-mand, -mahnd]
–verb (used with object)
1. to direct with specific authority or prerogative; order: The captain commanded his men to attack.
2. to require authoritatively; demand: She commanded silence.
3. to have or exercise authority or control over; be master of; have at one's bidding or disposal: The Pharaoh commanded 10,000 slaves.
4. to deserve and receive (respect, sympathy, attention, etc.): He commands much respect for his attitude.
5. to dominate by reason of location; overlook: The hill commands the sea.
6. to have authority over and responsibility for (a military or naval unit or installation); be in charge of.
–verb (used without object)
7. to issue an order or orders.
8. to be in charge; have authority.
9. to occupy a dominating position; look down upon or over a body of water, region, etc.
–noun
10. the act of commanding or ordering.
11. an order given by one in authority: The colonel gave the command to attack.
12. Military.
a. an order in prescribed words, usually given in a loud voice to troops at close-order drill: The command was “Right shoulder arms!”
b. the order of execution or the second part of any two-part close-order drill command, as face in Right face!
c. (initial capital letter) a principal component of the U.S. Air Force: Strategic Air Command.
d. a body of troops or a station, ship, etc., under a commander.
13. the possession or exercise of controlling authority: a lieutenant in command of a platoon.
14. expertise; mastery: He has a command of French, Russian, and German.
15. British. a royal order.
16. power of dominating a region by reason of location; extent of view or outlook: the command of the valley from the hill.
17. Computers.
a. an electric impulse, signal, or set of signals for initiating an operation in a computer.
b. a character, symbol, or item of information for instructing a computer to perform a specific task.
c. a single instruction.
–adjective
18. of, pertaining to, or for use in the exercise of command: a command car; command post.
19. of or pertaining to a commander: a command decision.
20. ordered by a sovereign, as if by a sovereign, or by the exigencies of a situation: a command performance.
Origin:
1250–1300; (v.) ME coma(u)nden < AF com(m)a(u)nder, OF comander < ML commandāre, equiv. to L com- com- + mandāre to entrust, order (cf. commend ); (n.) late ME comma(u)nde < AF, OF, n. deriv. of the v.

Related forms:
command⋅a⋅ble, adjective

Synonyms:
1. bid, demand, charge, instruct, enjoin. See direct. 3. govern, control, oversee, manage, lead. See rule. 4. exact, compel, require, claim, secure. 10. direction, bidding, injunction, charge, mandate, instruction. 13. ascendancy, sway, domination.

Antonyms:
1, 7. obey.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Commanding
com·mand   (kə-mānd')   
v.   com·mand·ed, com·mand·ing, com·mands

v.   tr.

  1. To direct with authority; give orders to.

  2. To have control or authority over; rule: a general who commands an army.

  3. To have at one's disposal: a person who commands seven languages.

  4. To deserve and receive as due; exact: The troops' bravery commanded respect.

    1. To exercise dominating, authoritative influence over: "He commands any room he enters" (Stephen Schiff).

    2. To dominate by physical position; overlook: a mountain commanding the valley below.

v.   intr.

  1. To give orders.

  2. To exercise authority or control as or as if one is a commander.

n.  

  1. The act of commanding.

  2. An order given with authority.

  3. Computer Science A signal that initiates an operation defined by an instruction.

    1. The authority to command: an admiral in command.

    2. Possession and exercise of the authority to command: command of the seas.

    3. The jurisdiction of a commander.

    4. A military unit, post, district, or region under the control of one officer.

    5. A unit of the U.S. Air Force that is larger than an air force.

  5. Ability to control or use; mastery: command of four languages.

  6. Dominance by location; extent of view.

    1. The jurisdiction of a commander.

    2. A military unit, post, district, or region under the control of one officer.

    3. A unit of the U.S. Air Force that is larger than an air force.

adj.  

  1. Of, relating to, or constituting a command: command headquarters; a command decision.

  2. Done or performed in response to a command: a command performance.


[Middle English commaunden, from Old French comander, from Late Latin commandāre : Latin com-, intensive pref.; see com- + Latin mandāre, to entrust; see man-2 in Indo-European roots.]
com·mand'a·ble adj.
com·mand·ing   (kə-mān'dĭng)   
adj.  

  1. Having command; controlling.

  2. Dominating, as by magnitude or position: took a commanding lead at the polls; a commanding view of the ocean.

com·mand'ing·ly adv., com·mand'ing·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

command 
c.1300, from O.Fr. comander "to order, enjoin," from V.L. *commandare, from L. commendare "to recommend" (see commend), alt. by influence of L. mandare "to commit, entrust" (see mandate). Replaced O.E. bebeodan. The noun is attested from 1552. Commandant is 1687, from Fr. Commandment is c.1280; pronounced as four syllables until 17c. "Of þe x commandements ... þe first comondement is þis, O God we ssul honuri" (c.1280).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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