command

command [kə mand′, kəmänd′]

vt.

[ME commanden < OFr comander < VL * commandare < L com-, intens. + mandare, to commit, entrust: see MANDATE]

1. to give an order or orders to; direct with authority

2. to have authority or jurisdiction over; control

3. to have ready for use [to command a large vocabulary]

4. to deserve and get; require as due, proper, or becoming [to command respect]

5. to control or overlook from a higher position [the fort commands the entire valley]

6. Obs. to demand authoritatively

vi.

1. to exercise power or authority; be in control; act as a commander

2. to overlook, as from a height

n.

1. the act of commanding

2. an order; direction; mandate

3. authority to command

4. power to control or dominate by position

5. range of view

6. ability to have and use; mastery

7.

a) a military or naval force, organization, or district, under a specified authority or jurisdiction

b) AIR COMMAND

8. the post where the person in command is stationed

9. Comput.

a) a request entered on a terminal to have a particular function performed

b) INSTRUCTION (sense 3c)

SYN.- POWER, COMMAND, when it refers to a giving of orders, implies the formal exercise of absolute authority, as by a sovereign or military leader; ORDER often stresses peremptoriness, sometimes suggesting an arbitrary exercise of authority [I ordered him out of the house ]; DIRECT and INSTRUCT are both used in connection with supervision, as in business relations, INSTRUCT perhaps more often stressing explicitness of details in the directions given; ENJOIN suggests a directing with urgent admonition [he enjoined them to secrecy ] and sometimes implies a legal prohibition; CHARGE implies the imposition of a task as a duty, trust, or responsibility