Command

R  E  F  E  R  E  N  C  E  S 

3 Command adj [1826]: done on command or request [a __ performance]

1 Command vb [ME comanden, fr. MF comander, fr. [assumed] VL commandare, alter. of L commendare to commit to one's charge -more at Commend] vt [14c] 1: to direct authoritatively: Order 2: to exercise a dominating influence over: have command of: as a: to have at one's immediate disposal b: to demand or receive as one's due [__'s a high fee] c: to overlook or dominate from or as if from a strategic position d: to have military command of as senior officer 3 obs: to order or request to be given -vi 1: to have or exercise direct authority: Govern 2: to give orders 3: to be commander 4: to dominate as if from an elevated place -Syn. Command, Order, Bid, Enjoin, Direct, Instruct, Charge mean to issue orders. Command and Order imply authority and usu. some degree of formalilty and impersonality. Command stresses official exercise of authority [a general commanding troops]. Order may suggest peremptory or arbitrary exercise [ordered his employees about like slaves]. Bid suggests givng orders peremptorily [as to children or servants] [she bade him be seated]. Enjoin implies giving an order or direction authoritatively and urgently and often with admonition or solicitiude [a sign enjoining patrons to be quiet]. Direct and Instruct both connote expectation of obedience and usu. concern specific points of procedure or method. Instruct sometimes implying greater explicitness or formality [directed her assistant to hold all calls] [the judge instructed the jury to ignore the remark]. Charge adds to enjoin an implicatin of imposing as a duty or responsibility [charged by the President with a secret mission].