Forms: 3–5 comander, -our, -ur, 4 comaundour, 4–6 commaundour, 6–7 -er, (5 com(m)awndour), 6– commander. (a. OF. comandere (= Pr. comandaire):—L. type commandā·tor, oblique case comandeor (= Pr. comandador), Anglo-F. -dour, mod.F. -deur:—L. type commandātor-em (commend-), agent-sb. f. commandāre: see COMMAND v. and -ER. Commendātor was in some military and religious orders of the Middle Ages, e.g., that of the Knights of St. John, the title of the officer in charge of a commenda: see COMMANDERY. In this sense Littré has OF. comandeor in 13th c.]
1. One who commands.
a. One who commands or orders anything.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Man of Law’s T., 397. Soothly the Comandour of that was he [God].
1395. Purvey, Remonstr. (1851), 49. If that that the emperour comaundith is good, fille thou the wil of the comaundour.
1531. Dial. on Laws Eng., I. ix. (1638), 19. If a man command another to do a trespasse … the commander is a trespasser.
a. 1617. Hieron, Wks. (1619–20), II. 484. Hee doth it … more for the Commanders sake … then out of any other respect whatsoeuer.
b. One who has the control or disposal of anything.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 12109 (Cott.). Ihesus þe maister gaf ansuare, þou þat es comandur o lai.
c. 1585. Faire Em, III. 650. She That’s mistress and commander of his thoughts.
1607. Fletcher, Woman-Hater, III. i. Were we not made ourselves, free, unconfined, Commanders of our own affections?
1666. Fuller, Hist. Camb. (1840), 222. A great commander of the Latin tongue.
c. One who exercises authority, a ruler or leader. Commander of the Faithful (cf. ADMIRAL): a title of the caliphs, first assumed (c. 640) by Omar I.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 453 (Cott.). He [Lucifer] wald … be him self þair comandur [v.r. -our].
1382. Wyclif, Luke v. 5. Comaundour, we trauelinge by al the nyȝt token no thing.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 88. Commawndour, preceptor, mandator.
1588. Shaks., Tit. A., I. ii. 247. King and Commander of our Common-weale. Ibid. (1592), Ven. & Ad., 1004. Be wreak’d on him, invisible commander [Death].
1651. Hobbes, Leviath., II. xlii. 269. The Apostles … are our Schoolemasters, and not our Commanders.
1840. Penny Cycl., XVI. 434/2. Omar … was also the first who assumed the title of Amir-al-múmenín (commander of the faithful) instead of that of Khalifah-rasuli-llahi (vicar of the messenger of God), which his predecessor Abú Bekr had used.
2. spec. a. The officer in command of a military force.
1598. Barret, Theor. Warres, III. i. 31. Braue Commaunders vnder whom I have serued.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., IV. i. 97. Williams. Vnder what Captaine serue you? King. Vnder Sir Iohn Erpingham. Williams. A good old Commander.
1643. Ld. Capel (title), Address to all Commanders, Officers, and Soldiers.
1757. Johnson, Rambler, No. 146, ¶ 5. Not only the writer of books, but the commander of armies … will easily outlive all noisy and popular reputation.
1859. Thackeray, Virgin., x. Two thousand veteran British troops with their commander.
1875. Bedford, Sailor’s Pocket-bk., i. (ed. 2), 22. The term Commander of Column indicates the Senior Officer in that Column.
b. One who has command of a ship; in the British and U. S. navies, the title of an officer who ranks below a captain and above a first lieutenant.
c. 1450. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 579/45. Egeator, a comander of a shyp.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., IV. 202. Any ingenious Sea-Artist, that … hath been Commander or Mate many years.
1708. Roy. Proclam., 26 June, in Lond. Gaz., No. 4452. The Commanders of the Men of War appointed Convoys for Newfoundland.
1804. G. Rose, Diaries (1860), II. 194. Captain Prescott, a commander in the navy.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 203. Commander, an officer in the royal navy, commanding a ship of war under twenty guns, a sloop of war, armed ship, or bomb-vessel. He was entitled master and commander, and ranked with a major of the army: now simply termed commander, and ranking with lieutenant-colonel, but junior of that rank.
3. In a mediæval religious order, esp. a military order, as the Knights Hospitallers: The administrator of a COMMANDERY, a COMMENDATORY.
1611. Cotgr., s.v. Commanderie, A Commaunder (of one of the Orders).
1641. Termes de la Ley, 65, s.v. Commaundrie, He which had the government of any such Mannor or house, was called the Commander, which had nothing to doe to dispose of it, but to the use of the Priorie, and to have onely his sustenance of it according to his degree.
1751. Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Commandry, The simple commanders of Malta … are rather farmers of the order than beneficiaries.
1819. Scott, Ivanhoe, xxxv., note. The principal Knights of Saint John were termed Commanders.
1858. W. Porter, Hist. Knts. Malta, I. ii. (L., s.v. Commandery), The council reserved to themselves the power of at any time recalling a commander from his post.
1867. Murray’s Handbk. Worcester, etc., 98. The Commander’s house, and great hall, are the only existing portions [of the Commandry].
4. Hence, a member of a higher class in certain modern Orders of Knighthood, in the French Legion of Honour, etc.; also, an officer in certain secret ‘orders,’ as in the American order of ‘Knights Templars.’
In British Orders (e.g., of the Bath since 1815. of St. Michael and St. George, and of the Star of India) the Knight Commanders form the second of the three grades. A Grand Commander is a member of one of the divisions of the highest grade. In the Legion of Honour, Commandeurs form the third of the five classes.
1846. Penny Cycl., 1st Suppl., II. 193/2. Legion of Honour, instituted by Napoleon during the year 1802 … consists of five divisions: chevaliers, officers, commanders, grand officers, and grand crosses.
1882. Cussans, Heraldry, 248. At the termination of the War [1815] … it was decided to divide the Order of the Bath into three Grades, entitled Knights Grand Cross (G.C.B.), Knights Commanders (K.C.B.), and Knights Companions (C.B.).
1886. Whitaker’s Almanack, 88. [Order of the Bath] Second Class, K.C.B. Military Knights Commanders … Civil Knights Commanders. Ibid., 93. The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India … Principal Knight Grand Commander, Viceroy and Gov. Gen. of India.
5. A large wooden mallet or beetle; a rammer (see COMMAND v. 6 c).
1573. Baret, Alv., C. 907 (1580), An instrument to driue piles of woodde into the ground, called … a commaunder, also to beate stones in pauing, a rammer.
1679. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., vii. 128. The Commander … with a handle about three foot long.
1726. R. Neve, Builder’s Dict., s.v. Foundation, These piles must be drove or forced down by a Commander.
1863. Reade, Hard Cash, I. 198. His gang of fifteen … stood in line with huge wooden beetles called commanders.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 203. Commander, a large wooden mallet used specially in the sail and rigging lofts, as anything of metal would injure the ropes or canvas.
† 6. Fortif. A work raised so as to command the adjacent works and country round: a CAVALIER. Obs.
1599. Hakluyt, Voy., II. 122. Two commanders, or caualiers. Ibid., II. 126. Whole Buts of water … were throwen downe from an high Commander.
† 7. Surg. A machine for reducing dislocations; = AMBE. Obs.
1676. Wiseman, Chirurg. Treat., VII. v. 488. The Glossocomium, commonly called the Commander.
1711. Lond. Gaz., No. 4878/4. This [reduction of fractures] is not effected by the Ambe or Commander.
1783. P. Pott, Chirurg., Wks. II. 300. That sort of Ambi which Mr. Freke called his Commander.
8. Hat-making. (See quots.)
1874. Knight, Dict. Mech., s.v.
1875. Ure, Dict. Arts, II. 857. This flat crown is now placed upon a block, and, by pressing a string called a commander, down the sides of the block, he forces the parts adjacent to the crown to assume a cylindrical figure.
9. Ornith. The Red-winged Oriole (Oriolus Phœniceus).
1812. Smellie, etc., trans. Buffon’s Nat. Hist., XIII. 219. It is called Commander on account of a fine red mark on … its wings, which … resembles the badge of the order of knighthood.
10. Commander-in-chief. The chief or supreme commander of all the military land forces of a State; also b. of a detached portion permanently quartered in a colony, or c. on expeditionary service in a hostile foreign country.
In nearly all the British Colonies, the Governor is Commander-in-Chief, even though a civilian.
1654. H. L’Estrange, Chas. I. (1655), 188. Lord Conway then Commander in chief.
1655. Fuller, Ch. Hist., I. iv. § 10. Such Commanders in Chief do not fall without Common Souldiers about them.
1790. Beatson, Nay. & Mil. Mem., II. 218. Want of success in the last campaign had raised a great clamour against the commander-in-chief.
1829. W. Irving, Conq. Granada (1850), 343. The commander-in-chief of the artillery.
1844. H. H. Wilson, Brit. India, I. I. ii. 127. The new Commander-in-chief at Madras, Sir John Cradock.
1887. Lond. Gaz., 29 Nov. The Queen has been pleased, by Letters Patent … to appoint Field-Marshal His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, K.G., to be Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty’s Forces.
1887. Army List, Nov., 27. Bermuda, Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Gallwey, Lt. Genl. T. L., R. Eng.
b. In U. S. vested in the President.
But the title is often unofficially applied to the acting general officer of highest rank (i.e., the senior major-general).
1778. (title) Proceedings of a Court Martial held … by order of His Excellency General Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the United States of America, for the Trial of Major General Lee.
1789. Constit. U.S., Art. ii. § 2. The president shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy.
1843. Penny Cycl., XXVI. 16/2. s.v. United States.
c. In the Navy: ‘The senior officer in any port or station appointed to hold command over all other vessels within the limits assigned to him. Thus the commodore on the coast of Africa is de facto commander-in-chief’ (Adm. Smyth).
1890. Times, 12 Sept., 4/6. The Northampton … flagship of the Commander-in-Chief at the Nore.
d. fig.
1650. Hubbert, Pill Formality, 12. A form of godliness is the Commander in Chief of all other sins.
Hence (nonce-wd.) Commander-in-chiefship.
1871. Punch, 16 Sept., 117/1. ‘Two persons wanted to see his Commander-in-Chiefship,’ a servant said.
1878. W. M. Taylor, Daniel the Beloved, ix. 166. To himself he reserved the Commander-in-chiefship of the army.
