endorse
Meanings
verb
- To express support or approval, especially officially or publicly; to give an endorsement.
- To write one's signature on the back of a cheque, or other negotiable instrument, when transferring it to a third party, or cashing it.
- To add penalty points to one's driving licence as a result of a road traffic offence.
- To report (a symptom); to describe.
noun
- A diminutive of the pale, usually appearing in pairs on either side of a pale.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
Alteration influenced by Medieval Latin indorsare of Middle English endosse, from Old French endosser (“to put on the back”), from Latin dossum, alternative form of dorsum (“back”), from which also dorsal (“of the back”). That is, the ‘r’ was dropped in Latin dossum, which developed into Old French and then Middle English endosse, and then the ‘r’ was re-introduced into English via the Medieval Latin indorsare, which had retained the ‘r’. Note that the alternative spelling indorse also uses the initial ‘i’ from Latin (in-, rather than en-), but this form is now rare.
Related words
Derived words
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.