Recommend - Wiktionary

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English recommenden, from Old French recommender (compare French recommander), from Latin re- + commendāre (“to commend, commit; to recommend”), from con- +‎ mandāre (“commit, intrust, enjoin”), from manus (“hand, handwriting, power”) +‎ dare (“to give; to offer or render”).

Compare typologically Bulgarian препоръчам (preporǎčam), Serbo-Croatian препоручити, Slovene priporočiti, Czech doporučit, Slovak odporučiť (the same meaning); Russian поручи́ться (poručítʹsja), пору́ка (porúka), поручи́тельство (poručítelʹstvo) (close meaning), all related to Proto-Slavic *rǫka (Bulgarian ръка (rǎka), Russian рука́ (ruká)).

Pronunciation

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• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /ˌɹɛkəˈmɛnd/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnd
• Hyphenation: rec‧om‧mend

Verb

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recommend (third-person singular simple present recommends, present participle recommending, simple past and past participle recommended)

1. (transitive) To bestow commendation on; to represent favourably; to suggest, endorse or encourage as an appropriate choice. Synonym: commend The board recommends Philips, given his ample experience in similar positions.
2. (transitive) To make acceptable; to attract favor to. A city that has much to recommend it.
3. (transitive) To advise, propose, counsel favorably. The therapist recommends resting the mind and exercising the body. My therapist recommended that I rest the mind and exercise the body.
   • 2024 May 8, Katia Hetter, “Mammograms are now recommended starting at age 40. Should you get one?”, in CNN‎[1]:An influential group of medical experts, the US Preventive Services Task Force, recommended last week that most women receive a mammogram starting at age 40.
   • 2025 April 16, Brenda Goodman, “CDC considers narrowing its Covid-19 vaccine recommendations”, in CNN‎[2]:The US Centers and Disease Control and Prevention is considering recommending annual Covid-19 shots to those who are older or who have compromised immune function, rather than the current blanket recommendation for everyone 6 months of age and older.The change would more closely align the US with guidance given in other countries. Unlike countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, the US alone recommends an annual Covid-19 vaccine for healthy younger adults and children. The World Health Organization also doesn’t routinely recommend annual Covid-19 vaccines for healthy adults under 65 or healthy children.
4. (transitive, archaic) To commit, confide to another's care, confidence or acceptance, with favoring representations A medieval oblate's parents recommended the boy for life to God and the monastery.

Usage notes

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• This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

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• See also Thesaurus:advise

Antonyms

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• deprecate
• disrecommend
• discourage
• disapprove
• oppose

Derived terms

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• misrecommend
• recommendable
• recommendary
• recommendative
• recommendatory
• recommended
• recommendee
• recommender
• rerecommend
• unrecommend

Related terms

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• recommendation

Translations

[edit] to commend to the favorable notice of another

Altai: Southern Altai: айдар (aydar) Arabic: وَصَّى (waṣṣā), أَوْصَى (ʔawṣā), نَصَحَ (ar) (naṣaḥa) South Levantine Arabic: نصح (ar) (naṣaḥ) Armenian: հանձնարարել (hy) (hanjnararel) Azerbaijani: tövsiyə etmək, məsləhət görmək Basque: gomendatu Belarusian: рэкамендава́ць impf (rekamjendavácʹ), парэкамендава́ць pf (parekamjendavácʹ), ра́іць impf (ráicʹ), пара́іць pf (paráicʹ) Bulgarian: препоръ́чвам (bg) impf (preporǎ́čvam), препоръ́чам pf (preporǎ́čam), съве́твам (bg) impf (sǎvétvam) Burmese: ထောက်ခံ (my) (htaukhkam) Catalan: recomanar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 推薦 / 推荐 (zh) (tuījiàn) Czech: doporučovat (cs) impf, doporučit (cs) pf Danish: anbefale (da) Dutch: aanraden (nl), aanbevelen (nl) Estonian: soovitama Finnish: suositella (fi), suosittaa (fi) French: recommander (fr) Georgian: რეკომენდაციას აძლევს (reḳomendacias aʒlevs), რეკომენდაციას უწევს (reḳomendacias uc̣evs), რეკომენდირება (reḳomendireba), რეკომენდება (reḳomendeba) German: empfehlen (de) Central Franconian: aabeveële Greek: προτείνω (el) (proteíno) Ancient Greek: παραινέω (parainéō) Hebrew: המליץ (himlíts) Hindi: सिफ़ारिश करना (sifāriś karnā) Hungarian: ajánl (hu) Icelandic: mæla með Istriot: racumandà Italian: raccomandare (it), consigliare (it) Japanese: 推薦する (ja) (すいせんする, suisen suru), 勧める (ja) (すすめる, susumeru) Kazakh: ұсыну (ūsynu), ұсыныс жасау (ūsynys jasau) Khmer: អនុសាស (ʼaʼnusaah) Korean: 추천하다 (ko) (chucheonhada) Kyrgyz: сунуш кылуу (ky) (sunuş kıluu) Lao: ແນະນໍາ (næ nam) Latin: commendo Latvian: ieteikt Lithuanian: patarti Macedonian: препорачува impf (preporačuva), препорача pf (preporača) Māori: marohi Middle English: recomaunden, recommenden Norwegian: Bokmål: anbefale (no) Persian: توصیه کردن (fa) (towsiye kardan) Polish: polecać (pl) impf, polecić (pl) pf Portuguese: recomendar (pt) Romanian: recomanda (ro) Russian: рекомендова́ть (ru) impf (rekomendovátʹ), порекомендова́ть (ru) pf (porekomendovátʹ), сове́товать (ru) impf (sovétovatʹ), посове́товать (ru) pf (posovétovatʹ) Scottish Gaelic: mol Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: препоручи́вати impf, препору́чити pf Latin: preporučívati (sh) impf, preporúčiti (sh) pf Slovak: odporúčať impf, odporučiť pf Slovene: priporočati impf, priporočiti pf Spanish: recomendar (es) Swedish: rekommendera (sv), anbefalla (sv) Tajik: тавсия кардан (tavsiya kardan) Thai: แนะนำ (th) (nɛ́-nam) Turkish: tavsiye etmek (tr) Ottoman Turkish: توصیه ایتمك (tavsiye etmek) Ukrainian: рекомендува́ти impf (rekomenduváty), порекомендува́ти pf (porekomenduváty), ра́дити (uk) impf (rádyty), пора́дити pf (porádyty) Urdu: سفارش کرنا (sifāriś karnā), مشورہ دینا (maśvirā denā) Uzbek: tavsiya etmoq, maslahat bermoq Venetan: recomandar, racomandar Vietnamese: giới thiệu (vi) (介紹), đề nghị (vi) (提議)

to suggest or endorse someone as appropriate choice

Arabic: South Levantine Arabic: نصح (ar) (naṣaḥ) Azerbaijani: tövsiyə etmək Bulgarian: препоръчвам (bg) (preporǎčvam) Dutch: aanbevelen (nl), voordragen (nl) Finnish: suositella (fi) German: Central Franconian: aabeveële Greek: υποδεικνύω (el) (ypodeiknýo) Ancient Greek: παραινέω (parainéō) Māori: marohi, mārohirohi Middle English: recomaunden, commenden, recommenden Russian: рекомендова́ть (ru) impf (rekomendovátʹ), порекомендова́ть (ru) pf (porekomendovátʹ), сове́товать (ru) impf (sovétovatʹ), посове́товать (ru) pf (posovétovatʹ) Swedish: rekommendera (sv), förespråka (sv) Tamil: பரிந்துரை செய் (parinturai cey) Turkish: Ottoman Turkish: توصیه ایتمك (tavsiye etmek) Ukrainian: рекомендува́ти impf (rekomenduváty), порекомендува́ти pf (porekomenduváty)

to make acceptable; to attract favor to

Finnish: houkutella (fi), olla houkuttava

to advise, propose

Arabic: يوصي يقترح South Levantine Arabic: نصح (ar) (naṣaḥ) Bulgarian: съветвам (bg) (sǎvetvam) Dutch: aanraden (nl), aanbevelen (nl), adviseren (nl) Finnish: suositella (fi), suosittaa (fi) German: empfehlen (de) Central Franconian: aabeveële Italian: consigliare (it) Russian: рекомендова́ть (ru) impf (rekomendovátʹ), порекомендова́ть (ru) pf (porekomendovátʹ), сове́товать (ru) impf (sovétovatʹ), посове́товать (ru) pf (posovétovatʹ) Swedish: rekommendera (sv), föreslå (sv)

archaic: to confide to another

Bulgarian: поверявам (bg) (poverjavam) Dutch: bevelen in ... (van ...), aanbevelen (nl), overdragen aan Finnish: luovuttaa (fi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations. Translations to be checked

Esperanto: (please verify) rekomendi (eo) French: (please verify) adviser (fr), (please verify) conseiller (fr), (please verify) recommander (fr)

Noun

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recommend (plural recommends)

1. (colloquial) A recommendation.
   • 1896 November – 1897 May, Rudyard Kipling, “Captains Courageous”, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, published 1897, →OCLC:"I'm glad to have a recommend from that quarter. Airheart's skipper of the San Jose now. […]"

Anagrams

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• commender

Middle English

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Verb

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recommend

1. alternative form of recommenden