endorsement
Pluralendorsements
- 1The act of publicly approving, supporting, or recommending someone or something.
The campaign relied heavily on the senator's endorsement.
Her public endorsement of the charity boosted donations within a week.
Similarsupport, backing, approval, recommendation
Oppositeopposition, rejection, condemnation, disapproval
Note
The word is simply endorse + -ment, and it covers the whole range of that verb, from the formal to the figurative. A bank may require check endorsement to be witnessed by a cashier; an association announces its endorsement of a policy. The usual frames are endorsement of something and endorsement by someone. Used loosely, it can mean approval implied rather than given, as when supporting a policy is read as an endorsement of its consequences.
- 2Public backing given to a person, product, or cause by a well-known figure such as a celebrity, politician, or athlete.
The brand saw sales jump after the runner's endorsement.
A celebrity endorsement can transform an unknown product overnight.
Similarbacking, support, promotion, testimonial
Note
The backer's name follows from: an endorsement from a senator, from an athlete, from Donald Trump. Compare the general act of approving, where of introduces what is being approved. Because the value lies in the endorser's fame, the effect can cut both ways, and a famous name may hurt a candidate or product as easily as help it.
- 3Financial sponsorship provided to someone by a company, business, or enterprise.
The driver's endorsement from a fuel company covered the entire racing season.
Several startups competed for an endorsement from the tech giant.
Similarsponsorship, backing, funding
Note
Here the money runs toward the person: a company pays, and the athlete or performer is the one sponsored. It turns up in the phrase endorsement deal, the kind of thing an athlete might hope to land after the Olympics. It shades into public backing by a famous figure, since companies pay celebrities to endorse products, but this sense is about the payment, not the praise.
- 4An addition to an official document that amends or annotates it, such as a clause altering an insurance policy or an offense recorded on a driver's license.
Her broker recommended an endorsement to extend the policy to her home office.
Each conviction added another endorsement to his driving record.
Note
Insurance uses it for a change attached to an existing policy, and the change is named by what it covers: a flood damage endorsement on house insurance, bought for an extra charge. On a driving license the same kind of notation can record a conviction. That is quite different from the added permission, which grants a skill rather than recording a fault.
- 5Official permission allowing a license holder to perform a specific skill or task beyond the scope of their general license.
The state added a bilingual endorsement to her teaching license.
An endorsement in school administration let him apply for principal positions.
Similarcertification, qualification
Note
A licensing word for an add-on: the general license comes first, and the endorsement extends it to one named specialty. The specialty goes in front as a modifier, as in a Grade 12 mathematics endorsement for a teacher or a hazardous materials endorsement for a trucker hauling gasoline. Where the note on a document records a change, this one grants a right; without it, the base license does not cover the task.
- 6A flight instructor's signed acknowledgment confirming that a pilot has practiced specific flying skills.
The student pilot collected each endorsement required before his first solo.
Her instructor's endorsement confirmed she had practiced cross-country navigation.
Note
Aviation training runs on signatures: an instructor signs off, in the pilot's logbook, the hours spent on a particular skill such as night flying. Each endorsement is a gate rather than a credential in itself. Once the right ones are collected, the pilot can be approved for the examination. Pilots speak of the endorsement of specific hours, and of collecting endorsements on the way to a test.
Practice
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Origin
Formed from the verb "endorse" combined with the suffix "-ment."