commando

commando

English

Etymology

From Afrikaans kommando, from Portuguese comando (“command”),[1] from Late Latin *commandare, from Latin commendare.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /kəˈmɑːn.dəʊ/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːndəʊ

• (US) IPA^(key): /kəˈmændoʊ/

Noun

commando (plural commandos or commandoes)

1. A small fighting force specially trained for making quick destructive raids against enemy-held areas.
   • 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York Review Books 2006, p. 89:

     The most important objective was at Batna itself, where a group of three commandos each comprising ten men was to attack Deleplanque's sub-prefecture [...].

2. A commando trooper.
   • 2022 March 8, “Tory MP’s son among UK ex-servicemen heading to Ukrainian front line”, in the Guardian‎:

     Ben Grant, 30, who spent more than five years as a commando in the Royal Marines, is part of group of seven ex-servicemen who arrived in Ukraine over the weekend to fight invading Russian forces.

3. (historical) An organized force of Boer troops in South Africa; a raid by such troops.

Derived terms

• go commando
• steak commando

Descendants

• → Dutch: commando

Translations

small fighting force

Bulgarian: отряд (bg) m (otrjad), команда (bg) f (komanda) Chinese: Mandarin: 特种兵 (zh) Czech: komando n Dutch: commando (nl) m Esperanto: kommando (eo) Finnish: sissipartio French: commando (fr) m German: Kommando (de) n Greek: δύναμη καταδρομών f (dýnami katadromón) Indonesian: komando (id) Japanese: 特戦隊 (tokusentai) Maori: konihi, torohē, whakatoke Persian: کماندو‎ (fa) (komândo) Polish: komando (pl) n Swedish: kommandostyrka c Turkish: komando (tr)

commando trooper

Chinese: Mandarin: 特种兵 (zh) Esperanto: kommandano Finnish: sissi (fi) German: Kommandosoldat m Greek: κομάντο (el) m (kománto), καταδρομέας (el) m (katadroméas) Maori: hōia torohē, hōia konihi Norwegian: Bokmål: kommandosoldat m Nynorsk: kommandosoldat m Polish: komandos (pl) m, komandoska f Swedish: kommandosoldat c Turkish: komando (tr)

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “commando”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔˈmɑn.doː/, /koːˈmɑn.doː/
• Hyphenation: com‧man‧do

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish comando.

Noun

commando n (plural commando's)

1. military command [from 17th c.]

   Synonym: bevel

2. order, imperative (especially in relation to the military or animal training) [from 17th c.]

   Synonym: bevel

3. unit or division over whom an officer has command [from 17th c.]

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English commando, from Afrikaans kommando, from Portuguese comando.

Noun

commando m (plural commando's)

1. commando, special forces unit [from 20th c.]
2. commando, member of a special forces unit [from mid 20th c.]

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.mɑ̃.do/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

commando m (plural commandos)

1. commando (troop, trooper)

Descendants

• → Turkish: komando

Further reading

• “commando”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /komˈman.do/
• Rhymes: -ando
• Hyphenation: com‧màn‧do

Noun

commando m (plural commandi)

1. commando (troop)

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Proto-Romance) IPA^(key): /komˈmando/

Etymology 1

Refection of commendō based on the unprefixed counterpart mandō.

Verb

commandō (present infinitive commandāre); first conjugation, no perfect or supine stem

1. (Late Latin) Alternative form of commendō
   • 2nd c. CE, Velius Longus, De Orthographia:

     ...et quamvis commendo dicamus tamen commando in consuetudine est.[1]

     ...and although we may may say commendo, commando is still in use.

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Aromanian: cumãndu, cumãndari
  • Romanian: comânda, cumânda
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: comandare
    • → Spanish: comandar
  • Neapolitan: cumannà
  • Sicilian: cumannari, cumandari
    • → Maltese: kkmanda
• North Italian:
  • Friulian: comandâ
  • Ladin: cumander
  • Romansch: commander
  • Venetian: comandar
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Old French: comander, cumander, conmander
    • Middle French: commander
      • French: commander
        • → Romanian: comanda
    • Norman: c'mander (Jèrriais)
    • → Middle English: comaunden, comanden, commaunden, commanden, comaunde, comande, commaunde
      • English: command
      • Scots: command
• Occitano-Romance:
  • Catalan: comanar ⇒ encomanar, recomanar
  • Occitan: comandar
    • →? Catalan: comandar

Etymology 2

From con- +‎ mandō.

Verb

commandō (present infinitive commandere, perfect active commandī, supine commānsum); third conjugation

1. (Late Latin) chew

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “commendare”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 2: C Q K, page 948

1. https://latin.packhum.org/loc/1374/1/12#12

Further reading

• “commando”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

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Portuguese

Noun

commando m (plural commandos)

1. Obsolete spelling of comando

Verb

commando

1. Obsolete spelling of comando