Join free

commandeer

English

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

commandeer

  • /kɒmənˈdɪə(ɹ)/

Rhymes with -ɪə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

First attested in the late 19th century. From Dutch commanderen (“to command”), partially through its descendant, Afrikaans kommandeer (“to command”). Ultimately from French commander, from Old French comander, from Latin commendare. Doublet of command.

verb commandeers · commandeering · commandeered

  1. transitive To seize for military use.
  2. transitive To force into military service.
  3. transitive To take arbitrarily or by force.
  4. broadly, transitive To take or use for some purpose (not necessarily arbitrarily or by force). "We're stuck taking the bus to school tomorrow, aren't we?" "...Yeah. Moperville South doesn't give bus service out here, so Ellen's commandeering my car."

Translations

Every language

verb to seize for military use

Españolrequisar
Portuguêsrequisição administrativa
Françaisréquisitionner
Deutschrequirieren
Italianorequisire, sequestrare
Русскийреквизировать rekvizirovatʹ

verb to force into military service

Españolreclutar
Françaisenrôler de force
Italianoarruolare, coscrivere, reclutare

verb to take arbitrarily or by force

Españolusurpar, arrebatar
Italianosoggiogare, depredare, razziare

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"commandeer." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/commandeer. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

commandeer. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/commandeer

Chicago

"commandeer." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/commandeer.

BibTeX
@misc{commandeer_2026,
  title = {commandeer},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/commandeer},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}