First Known Use: 14th century
Dictionary
recommend
verb rec·om·mend \ˌre-kə-ˈmend\
: to say that (someone or something) is good and deserves to be chosen
: to suggest that someone do (something)
: to make (something or someone) seem attractive or good
Full Definition of RECOMMEND
transitive verb
1
3
: to make acceptable <has other points to recommend it>
4
: advise <recommend that the matter be dropped>
— rec·om·mend·able \-ˈmen-də-bəl\ adjective
— rec·om·men·da·to·ry \-də-ˌtȯr-ē\ adjective
— rec·om·mend·er noun
See recommend defined for English-language learners
See recommend defined for kids
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Examples of RECOMMEND
- There is much besides fishing to recommend a trip to this sleepy fishing village … —Peter Kaminsky, New York Times, 24 Nov. 2002
- … you feel as if you've left the world behind, down below, and that the only way to rejoin it is to let go and plummet straight down. Erice is not the first place I'd recommend to the acrophobic. —Francine Prose, Atlantic, December 2002
- Many of the Jobs, and especially those that paid well, had been parcelled out to candidates—mostly white males—whose applications signified that they had been recommended by well-placed political figures. —Andy Logan, New Yorker, 21 Aug. 1989
- If he'd bailed out with the rest of his crew—or been evacuated from the area at once as his regimental surgeon had recommended—perhaps he would have recovered fully … —Tom Clancy, The Cardinal of the Kremlin, 1988
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Origin of RECOMMEND
Middle English, from Anglo-French recommender, from Medieval Latin recommendare, from Latin re- + commendare to commend
Related to RECOMMEND
Rhymes with RECOMMEND
RECOMMENDED Defined for Kids
recommend
verb rec·om·mend \ˌre-kə-ˈmend\
rec·om·mend·edrec·om·mend·ing
Definition of RECOMMEND for Kids
1
: to present or support as worthy or fit <We recommended her for the job.> <Can you recommend a hotel?>
2
: to make a suggestion : advise <I recommend that the matter be dropped.>
3
: to make acceptable <The plan has many points to recommend it.>
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