commendare

Commendare is a Latin verb of the first conjugation meaning to entrust or commit to someone’s care, to commend, or to entrust to God; it can also carry the sense of recommending something or someone. The etymology traces to the Latin commendāre, formed with a prefix related to con/com- and the verb mandāre (to entrust). This origin is reflected in English words such as commend, commendation, and commendable.

In classical Latin, commendāre is a transitive verb that normally takes a direct object (the matter or thing entrusted) and may take a dative of the recipient (to someone) or a phrase indicating the beneficiary. It can also be used in the sense of recommending a course of action or person to someone’s favorable regard or protection, including prayers or benedictions in ecclesiastical Latin, where one commends someone or something to God or to a patron.

Conjugation and forms: commendare belongs to the 1st conjugation, with the standard endings of that group. Present active indicative: commendō, commendās, commendat, commendāmus, commendātis, commendant. Imperfect: commendābam, commendābās, commendābat, commendābāmus, commendābātis, commendābant. Future: commendābō, commendābis, commendābit, commendābimus, commendābitis, commendabunt. Perfect: commendāvī, commendāvistī, commendāvit, commendāvimus, commendāvistis, commendāvērunt. Pluperfect: commendāveram, commendāverās, commendāverat, commendāverāmus, commendāverātis, commendāverant. Future perfect: commendāverō, commendāverīs, commendāverit, commendāverimus, commendāveritis, commendāverint. Imperative: commendā, commendāte. In the passive: commendor, commendāris, commendātur, commendāmur, commendāminī, commendantur, with corresponding perfect passive forms.

Derivatives and usage in modern languages: the paradigm influenced the English verb commend and its derivatives (commendation, commendable). In Italian, commendare retains the sense “to entrust” or “to commend,” and in other Romance languages cognates reflect similar roots. The Latin verb thus underlies a family of meanings related to entrusting, recommending, or praising in various contexts.