endorse

[en-dawrs] /ɛnˈdɔrs/

verb (used with object), endorsed, endorsing. Also, indorse (for defs 1–6).

to approve, support, or sustain:

to endorse a political candidate.

to designate oneself as payee of (a check) by signing, usually on the reverse side of the instrument.

to sign one's name on (a commercial document or other instrument).

to make over (a stated amount) to another as payee by one's endorsement.

to write (something) on the back of a document, paper, etc.:

to endorse instructions; to endorse one's signature.

to acknowledge (payment) by placing one's signature on a bill, draft, etc.

noun

Heraldry. a narrow pale, about one quarter the usual width and usually repeated several times.

Origin

1350-1400; variant (with en- for in-) of earlier indorse < Medieval Latin indorsāre to endorse, equivalent to Latin in- in-² + -dorsāre, derivative of dorsum back; replacing endoss, Middle English endossen < Old French endosser, equivalent to en- en-¹ + -dosser, derivative of dos < Latin dorsum

Related forms

endorsable, adjective

endorser, endorsor, noun

endorsingly, adverb

endorsive, adjective

preendorse, verb (used with object), preendorsed, preendorsing.

reendorse, verb (used with object), reendorsed, reendorsing.

subendorse, verb (used with object), subendorsed, subendorsing.

superendorse, verb (used with object), superendorsed, superendorsing.

unendorsable, adjective

unendorsed, adjective

well-endorsed, adjective

Can be confused

approve, endorse (see synonym study at approve)

Synonyms

1. sanction, ratify, uphold, sustain, back, second.

Examples from the web for endorse

Films for public broadcast should be fair and not support or endorse one point of view.
Voters in France endorse two visions of their future.
Voters endorse a flawed but necessary set of constitutional amendments .
The moral of the story is one that all parents and educators will endorse heartily.
Well, this is not my personal opinion, although it is one which I endorse.
We endorse his bid to expand on that work in Congress.
There's an interesting coalition of people coming together to endorse a higher rate of inflation.
Those who endorse global warming universally seem to see it as a looming disaster for life on the planet.
The part of his testimony that made sense did not endorse a tax cut now.
Where voters did endorse real change, they had excellent reason to do so.

British Dictionary definitions for endorse

endorse

/ɪnˈdɔːs/

verb (transitive)

to give approval or sanction to

to sign (one's name) on the back of (a cheque, etc) to specify oneself as payee

(commerce)

to sign the back of (a negotiable document) to transfer ownership of the rights to a specified payee
to specify (a designated sum) as transferable to another as payee

to write (a qualifying comment, recommendation, etc) on the back of a document

to sign (a document), as when confirming receipt of payment

(mainly Brit) to record (a conviction) on (a driving licence)

Derived Forms

endorsable, indorsable, adjective
endorser, endorsor, indorser, indorsor, noun

Word Origin

C16: from Old French endosser to put on the back, from en-1 + dos back, from Latin dorsum

Word Origin and History for endorse

late 14c. endosse "alteration," from Old French endosser (12c.), literally "to put on back," from en- "put on" (see en- (1)) + dos "back," from Latin dossum, variant of dorsum.

Sense of "confirm, approve" (by signing on the back) is recorded in English first in 1847. Assimilated 16c. in form to Medieval Latin indorsare. Related: Endorsed; endorsing.

You can endorse, literally, a cheque or other papers, &, metaphorically, a claim or argument, but to talk of endorsing material things other than papers is a solecism. [Fowler]