recommendation

American  

[rek-uh-men-dey-shuhn, -muhn-] / ˌrɛk ə mɛnˈdeɪ ʃən, -mən- /

noun

1. an act of recommending.

2. a letter or the like recommending a person or thing.

3. representation in favor of a person or thing.

4. anything that serves to recommend a person or thing, or induce acceptance or favor.

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recommendation British  

/ ˌrɛkəmɛnˈdeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of recommending

2. something that recommends, esp a letter presenting someone as suitable for a job, etc

3. something that is recommended, such as a course of action

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Usage

Spelling tips for recommendation The word recommendation is hard to spell because it is tricky to know whether the c, the m, and/or the d is doubled. How to spell recommendation: The easiest way to remember how to spell recommend is to break it into three parts: re - com - mend - ation. You can keep the first three sections in mind with the sentence: "I recommend that you rely commonly on mending." The suffix -ation is used to indicate nouns of action and appears in many other words, like starvation and regulation.

Synonym Usage

See advice.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prerecommendation
  noun

Etymology

Origin of recommendation

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English recommendacion, from Medieval Latin recommendātiōn-, stem of recommendātiō, from recommendāt(us) (past participle of recommendāre; see recommend) + -iō -ion

Explanation

If you give someone a recommendation, you're saying, "try this, it's good" or "this is the best way to proceed," or "this person will do a great job." The noun recommendation stems from the Middle Latin word recommend, meaning "praise" or "present as worthy." Policy makers have made a strong recommendation to implement renewable energy initiatives to alleviate our dependence on fossil fuels. It used to be that you carried a letter of recommendation from a prominent person and used it as an introduction to polite society in an unfamiliar place, but nowadays, such a letter simply explains why someone is qualified for a particular job or school.

Example Sentences

Instead, the standard recommendation for pain relief during IUD insertion is to take 800 milligrams of ibuprofen an hour beforehand—a method that falls woefully short of addressing the intense discomfort experienced by many patients.

From Slate • Jun. 7, 2026

At that same meeting, county commissioners reviewed a recommendation by the development commission, a citizen advisory group, to pause data center projects while they studied their impacts and their accompanying power plants.

From Salon • Jun. 6, 2026

Cavendish reiterates its buy recommendation on the stock and sees significant upside to the current share price, especially if the long-awaited recovery in active management occurs, Karim adds.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

Mizuho analyst Maheep Mandloi, who rates the stock at Underperform, noted that the Nvidia recommendation would still allow other competitors to make batteries for the data centers.

From Barron's • Jun. 3, 2026

He agreed to write me a recommendation letter.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Related Words

• charge
• endorsement
• guidance
• instruction
• judgment
• order
• proposal
• proposition
• sanction
• suggestion
• support