Etymology: In sense 1, < French commende, corresponding to Italian commenda and medieval Latin commenda a benefice given in charge to any one (see commendam n.), lit. ‘a deposit, charge’, < commendāre to give in charge, entrust, etc.: see commend v. In the other senses it may have been formed immediately from the verb in English or Scottish.

Etymology: < Latin commendāre to commit to any one's charge, entrust, commend to his care, recommend, < Latin com- intensive + mandāre to commit into one's hands or charge, etc.: see mandate n. Old French commander had the sense of both commend and command (the latter a developed sense of Latin mandāre ), and commande in English had originally the same two senses. But here, in course of the 14th cent., the form commend was taken from Latin commendare (well known with its derivatives in feudal and ecclesiastical law, also in the Vulgate) in the original Latin sense, and command(e in this sense gradually went out of use. See command v.