Other forms: commandments
A commandment is a rule given by God that must be obeyed. The Ten Commandments, keep the commandments, break a commandment.
The Ten Commandments are the best known, given to Moses on Sinai and numbered slightly differently by different traditions — which is why the same list can be counted in more than one way. Judaism counts 613 commandments in the Torah altogether. Figuratively, a commandment is any rule treated as absolute. Note command, commander; and that commandment has kept a religious weight the plain word command has lost.
1nouncommandmentA rule given by God that must be obeyed.
“"Thou shalt not steal" is one of the Ten Commandments.”
commandment is a divine rule.
Old French comandement comes from Latin commandare, to entrust or order — com plus mandare, to hand over. Mandate, demand and command are the same handing.
Old French
comandement
Middle English
comaundement
English, today
commandment
Middle English comaundement, from Old French comandement, from comander. See command.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA