recommendation

[ rek-uh-men-dey-shuhn, -muhn- ]

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.

recommendation

/ 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

Other Words From

• prerec·om·men·dation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of recommendation¹

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

Synonym Study

See advice.

Example Sentences

They’re binging videos on TikTok and YouTube pushed to them by recommendation systems that end up shaping their worldviews.

From MIT Technology Review

The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions has also compiled a list of coronavirus-related recommendations for election officials, poll workers, and voters, but you can ultimately only control what you do.

From Popular-Science

Declarations, manifestos, and recommendations are flooding the internet.

From MIT Technology Review

Here are a selection of book recommendations from this year’s 40 Under 40 in government and politics.

From Fortune

Here is a selection of book recommendations from this year’s 40 Under 40 in health.

From Fortune

One of his kinder letters of recommendation warned that his scholarship was “open to the charge of sensationalism.”

From The Daily Beast

The only recommendation I make is that they do it on a big training day.

From The Daily Beast

Sadly, that is a recommendation that Russian journalists pursue at risk of death.

From The Daily Beast

The president, according to a White House statement last week, has decided to accept our recommendation.

From The Daily Beast

But there was one fact about him that makes the recommendation remarkable: he was Jewish.

From The Daily Beast

Marry, let an honest man lack their assistance, and starving stares him in the face, for want of a recommendation.

From Project Gutenberg

All such vows are widely different from those restraints which have no higher recommendation than human authority.

From Project Gutenberg

Letters of Recommendation should be truthful, polite, and carefully considered.

From Project Gutenberg

I had brought no letters of recommendation to this amiable woman, but she happened to hear of my travels and paid me a visit.

From Project Gutenberg

At the fall of the Empire he lost his position, obtaining his new one on the recommendation of the Comte de Serizy.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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

How Do You Spell Recommendation?

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.