Commendability

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. This term encapsulates the notion that specific behaviors, actions, or qualities are deserving of commendation and admiration from others
2. This concept refers to the quality of being worthy of praise or approval due to certain traits, actions, or achievements that elicit respect from others
3. It denotes the attribute of deserving recognition and endorsement for particular merits or behaviors that inspire admiration from people

Etymology: "Commendability" is a plain formation: the noun "commend" plus the suffix "-ability," which turns adjectives ending in "-able" into nouns for the quality they describe. So "commendable" (worthy of praise) becomes "commendability," the state of being worthy of praise. The base verb "commend" has a more interesting past than the noun built on it. It comes from Latin "commendare," meaning to entrust or commit something to someone's care, from "com-" (together) and "mandare" (to commit or order). Its earliest English sense was therefore about handing something over for safekeeping, and only later did it come to mean recommending someone or something as deserving approval. The suffix "-ability" also reaches English through French and Latin, and it was attached to many verbs in English over the centuries, so "commendability" follows a well-worn pattern rather than a single coinage. The word's meaning has stayed close to its adjective: a quality that earns respect or praise.

Synonyms: merit, worthiness, commendation, praiseworthiness, approval

Antonyms: blameworthiness, disrepute, condemnation, censure, disapproval