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commendation

[kom-uh n-dey-shuh n]
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noun
  1. the act of commending; recommendation; praise: commendation for a job well done.
  2. something that commends, as a formal recommendation or an official citation or award: a commendation for bravery.
  3. Feudal Law. the placing of oneself or one's land under the protection of a lord so as to become his vassal.
  4. commendations, Archaic. a complimentary greeting or message.
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Origin of commendation

1175–1225; Middle English commendacioun (< Anglo-French) < Latin commendātiōn- (stem of commendātiō) a commending to God. See commend, -ation
Related formsself-com·men·da·tion, nounsub·com·men·da·tion, nounsu·per·com·men·da·tion, noun

Synonyms

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1. approval, approbation, applause. 2. eulogy, encomium, panegyric, laudation.

Antonyms

1, 2. condemnation.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for commendation

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Perhaps he thought of Rahab who hid the spies, and received a commendation for it.

  • You ask for what you do not need when you call upon me for a word of commendation.

  • He, no doubt, expected to be welcomed in the warmest terms of commendation.

  • This was his commendation, from hour to hour; it made up the litany of his gratitude for what she had been to him.

    Meadow Grass

    Alice Brown

  • She was no longer a pretty girl, a nice girl, as the commendation went.

    Meadow Grass

    Alice Brown

British Dictionary definitions for commendation

commendation

noun
  1. the act or an instance of commending; praise
  2. an award
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for commendation

n.

"expression of approval," late 14c. (from c.1200 as the name of one of the Offices of the Dead), from Old French commendacion "approval, praise," from Latin commendationem (nominative commendatio) "recommendation, commendation," noun of action from past participle stem of commendare (see commend).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper