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endorse

[en-dawrs]
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verb (used with object), en·dorsed, en·dors·ing. Also indorse (for defs 1–6).
  1. to approve, support, or sustain: to endorse a political candidate.
  2. to designate oneself as payee of (a check) by signing, usually on the reverse side of the instrument.
  3. to sign one's name on (a commercial document or other instrument).
  4. to make over (a stated amount) to another as payee by one's endorsement.
  5. to write (something) on the back of a document, paper, etc.: to endorse instructions; to endorse one's signature.
  6. to acknowledge (payment) by placing one's signature on a bill, draft, etc.
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noun
  1. Heraldry. a narrow pale, about one quarter the usual width and usually repeated several times.
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Origin of endorse

1350–1400; variant (with en- for in-) of earlier indorse < Medieval Latin indorsāre to endorse, equivalent to Latin in- in-2 + -dorsāre, derivative of dorsum back; replacing endoss, Middle English endossen < Old French endosser, equivalent to en- en-1 + -dosser, derivative of dos < Latin dorsum
Related formsen·dors·a·ble, adjectiveen·dors·er, en·dor·sor, nounen·dors·ing·ly, adverben·dor·sive, adjectivepre·en·dorse, verb (used with object), pre·en·dorsed, pre·en·dors·ing.re·en·dorse, verb (used with object), re·en·dorsed, re·en·dors·ing.sub·en·dorse, verb (used with object), sub·en·dorsed, sub·en·dors·ing.su·per·en·dorse, verb (used with object), su·per·en·dorsed, su·per·en·dors·ing.un·en·dors·a·ble, adjectiveun·en·dorsed, adjectivewell-en·dorsed, adjective
Can be confusedapprove endorse (see synonym study at approve)

Synonyms

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1. sanction, ratify, uphold, sustain, back, second.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for endorser

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • I am a follower of the old trails, an endorser of the old maxims.

    The Iron Puddler

    James J. Davis

  • Does the loser tell his friend, the endorser, that he has lost half of his fortune?

  • He could borrow from the banks, with a good endorser, but what endorser was there good enough but John Folsom?

    Warrior Gap

    Charles King

  • My father at length became my endorser, and the bargain was signed and sealed.

  • When I had recovered sufficiently, I gave my fictitious name and introduced the Colonel, as a sort of endorser for my statement.

    The Boy Spy

    Joseph Kerby

British Dictionary definitions for endorser

endorse

indorse

verb (tr)
  1. to give approval or sanction to
  2. to sign (one's name) on the back of (a cheque, etc) to specify oneself as payee
  3. commerce
    1. to sign the back of (a negotiable document) to transfer ownership of the rights to a specified payee
    2. to specify (a designated sum) as transferable to another as payee
  4. to write (a qualifying comment, recommendation, etc) on the back of a document
  5. to sign (a document), as when confirming receipt of payment
  6. mainly British to record (a conviction) on (a driving licence)
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Derived Formsendorsable or indorsable, adjectiveendorser, endorsor, indorser or indorsor, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Old French endosser to put on the back, from en- 1 + dos back, from Latin dorsum
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 endorser

endorse

v.

late 14c. endosse "alteration," from Old French endosser (12c.), literally "to put on back," from en- "put on" (see en- (1)) + dos "back," from Latin dossum, variant of dorsum.

Sense of "confirm, approve" (by signing on the back) is recorded in English first in 1847. Assimilated 16c. in form to Medieval Latin indorsare. Related: Endorsed; endorsing.

You can endorse, literally, a cheque or other papers, &, metaphorically, a claim or argument, but to talk of endorsing material things other than papers is a solecism. [Fowler]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper