What does endorse mean?
To endorse something is to give it one's open and official backing — whether that means a newspaper endorsing a political candidate, a celebrity endorsing a product, or an organisation endorsing a policy. The verb conveys more than mere approval: endorsement is a public act, often carrying weight because the endorser lends their reputation or authority to whatever they support. A second, narrower sense belongs to banking and law, where endorsing a cheque means signing its reverse side to authorise payment or transfer. The word derives from Latin roots meaning "on the back", reflecting that original physical gesture of writing one's name on the back of a document as a mark of approval. Endorse is formal in tone and common in politics, commerce, journalism, and finance, making it a valuable term for describing institutional and public expressions of support.
To publicly express approval or support for someone or something.
"The union formally endorsed the strike action."
To sign or write on the back of a cheque or other document in order to authorise or transfer it.
"Please endorse the back of the cheque before cashing it."
This sense is chiefly used in banking and legal contexts.
When you endorse something, you're literally writing on its back — the word comes from the practice of signing the reverse of a document to show your approval.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of endorse
Endorse comes from the medieval Latin phrase "indeorsare", from "in-" (on) and "dorsum" (back), literally meaning "to write on the back" — originally describing the practice of signing the reverse of a legal or financial document to show approval or authorise transfer. It entered English in the late Middle Ages via Old French "endosser", initially used almost exclusively in this documentary sense before broadening by the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to mean general public approval or support. The root "dorsum" also gives us English words like "dorsal" (relating to the back), and cognates survive across Romance languages, including French "endosser" and Spanish "endorsar".
Related word forms
How endorse is actually used
Endorse carries a formal register and implies public, deliberate support rather than private opinion — one typically endorses candidates, policies, and products rather than casual everyday choices. In British English the spelling is consistently "endorse", while "indorse" survives mainly in older American legal usage. The banking sense (signing the back of a cheque) is more common in British English, where "cheque" remains standard; US usage increasingly favours this sense too in formal financial contexts.
Easily confused with endorse
"Indorse" is an older variant spelling of endorse, now largely obsolete except in some American legal contexts — they mean the same thing.