to direct with specific authority or prerogative; order.
The captain commanded his men to attack.
to require authoritatively; demand.
She commanded silence.
to have or exercise authority or control over; be master of; have at one's bidding or disposal.
The Pharaoh commanded 10,000 slaves.
to deserve and receive (respect, sympathy, attention, etc.).
He commands much respect for his attitude.
to dominate by reason of location; overlook.
The hill commands the sea.
to have authority over and responsibility for (a military or naval unit or installation); be in charge of.
to issue an order or orders.
to be in charge; have authority.
to occupy a dominating position; look down upon or over a body of water, region, etc.
the act of commanding or ordering.
an order given by one in authority.
The colonel gave the command to attack.
Military.
an order in prescribed words, usually given in a loud voice to troops at close-order drill.
The command was “Right shoulder arms!”
the order of execution or the second part of any two-part close-order drill command, as face in Right face!
Command, a principal component of the U.S. Air Force.
Strategic Air Command.
a body of troops or a station, ship, etc., under a commander.
the possession or exercise of controlling authority.
a lieutenant in command of a platoon.
He has a command of French, Russian, and German.
British. a royal order.
power of dominating a region by reason of location; extent of view or outlook.
the command of the valley from the hill.
Computers.
an electric impulse, signal, or set of signals for initiating an operation in a computer.
a character, symbol, or item of information for instructing a computer to perform a specific task.
a single instruction.
of, relating to, or for use in the exercise of command: command post.
a command car;
command post.
of or relating to a commander.
a command decision.
ordered by a sovereign, as if by a sovereign, or by the exigencies of a situation.
a command performance.
(when tr, may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to order, require, or compel
to have or be in control or authority over (a person, situation, etc)
(tr) to have knowledge or use of
he commands the language
(tr) to receive as due or because of merit
his nature commands respect
to dominate (a view, etc) as from a height
an order; mandate
the act of commanding
the power or right to command
the exercise of the power to command
ability or knowledge; control
a command of French
military the jurisdiction of a commander
a military unit or units commanding a specific area or function, as in the RAF
an invitation from the monarch
( as modifier )
a command performance
computing a word or phrase that can be selected from a menu or typed after a prompt in order to carry out an action
First recorded in 1250–1300; (verb) Middle English coma(u)nden, from Anglo-French com(m)a(u)nder, Old French comander, from Medieval Latin commandāre, equivalent to Latin com- com- + mandāre “to entrust, order” ( cf. commend); (noun) late Middle English comma(u)nde, from Anglo-French, Old French; the noun is derivative of the verb
A command is an order that you have to follow, as long as the person who gives it has authority over you. You don't have to comply with your friend's command that you give him all your money. Command, which can be a noun or a verb, combines the Latin prefix com-, meaning "with," and mandāre, "to charge, enjoin," so to give someone a command is to say something with the authority that charges him to follow it. Your mother might command you to clean your room. Command can also mean a position of power, like having command of a battleship, or possession of a skill, like having a great command of video games.
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It reenacts the Prophet Abraham's stoning of the devil at three places where Satan is said to have tried to dissuade him from obeying God's command to sacrifice his son Ishmael.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
The overnight strikes struck weapons storage facilities, command centers, observation posts and infrastructure sites, according to an Israeli military statement.
From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2026
He had been in command of an operation to clear barriers set up by anti-government protesters aimed at slowing the flow of goods into the administrative capital, La Paz, and nearby El Alto.
From BBC • May 24, 2026
“Before you can command a ship, a platoon, a flight of fighters,” he told graduates, “you must be able to command yourself.”
From Salon • May 24, 2026
Rainbow could whinny quite prettily on command, and always came trotting up when Edith-Anne whistled “God Save the Queen,” but it was hardly the same thing.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
