Endorsement

How to spell endorsement

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce endorsement

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does endorsement mean?

1. nounA public declaration of approval or support for a person, product, or idea.
2. nounA signature on the back of a cheque or document that transfers or authorises it.
3. nounAn official note added to a driving licence recording a motoring offence.

Endorsement in a sentence

• The candidate won the endorsement of the local trade union.

• The bank could not process the cheque without a valid endorsement on the reverse.

• Speeding can lead to an endorsement on your driving licence.

• The athlete earned a lucrative endorsement deal with a sportswear brand.

• The clerk checked the endorsement before crediting the deposited cheque.

• Three points and an endorsement followed his careless driving conviction.

Where does endorsement come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin dorsum, meaning 'the back' (the same root that gives us 'dorsal' fin). In medieval times the Old French verb endosser literally meant 'to put on the back', because a signature or note confirming a document was written on the reverse side of it. English took this up in the 1500s, originally spelling it 'indorse', and the sense soon broadened from physically signing the back of a paper to publicly supporting, approving, or recommending something or someone. The hidden 'dors' (back) at the heart of the word is the key to its spelling: there is a silent connection to the spine that explains the 'or' rather than an 'er'. Today an endorsement can be a celebrity backing a product, a signature transferring a cheque, or an official note added to a licence.

How the word is built

• en- (in, on)
• dors (back, from Latin dorsum)
• -ment (noun-forming suffix)