Commendacion

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Expressing approval or high regard for someone's qualities or deeds ; a formal recommendation or the act of entrusting someone to another's care
2. An expression of warm praise for merit or achievement ; a formal endorsement or the handing over of someone into another's protection
3. Words of approval given for good conduct or accomplishment ; an official recommendation or a formal placing of a person in someone else's keeping

Etymology: Before it meant praise, this word meant handing something over. Its Latin source, "commendatio", came from "commendare", "to entrust", built from "com-" (together) and "mandare", which combined "manus" (hand) with "dare" (give). Literally, it meant putting something into someone's hands. The same root gives us "command", "mandate", and "recommend". In medieval Europe the entrusting was often literal. A vassal seeking a lord's protection performed a ritual called commendation, placing his joined hands within the lord's and pledging himself into the lord's keeping. That sense of entrusting shaded into recommending someone to another's good opinion, and from there into praising them. The spelling "commendacion" preserves the Old French form that English borrowed in the Middle Ages.