'commandment' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'commandement', where Latin 'commandare' (com- + mandare) was the root; 'com-' meant 'with/together' and 'mandare' meant 'to entrust'.

'commandment' changed from Latin 'commandare' to Old French 'commandement' and Middle English 'commandement', and eventually became the modern English word 'commandment'.

Initially it meant 'an instruction or order' (from the sense 'to entrust/commit a command'), and over time it developed the more specific sense of 'a rule or decree to be obeyed', especially in a religious context.