commission

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kəˈmɪʃ.ən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English commissioun,^[2] borrowed from Old French commission,^[3][4] and directly borrowed from Latin commissiō (“the act of committing, of bringing together”),^[3][4] in Medieval Latin “delegation of business”,^[3] a noun of action from the past participle of committō (“I join, bring together, entrust”),^[3][4] the source of commit,^[4][5] from com- “together” and mittō (“I let go, send”), the source of mission.^[3] The verb is from the noun.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Authority entrusted to someone, delegated power: 1344,^[4] the mid-14th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

A document conferring authority is first recorded in 1418,^[4] the early 15th century,^[3] and a body of people charged with special duties, such as an investigation, from 1494.^[4][3] Anything entrusted to someone to perform is from the 1560s,^[3] and “the act of committing or doing”, as of a crime, from the 1590s.^[3] A military officer's commission is from 1672.^[6] The payment made to an agent, a percentage of the money involved, is a later commercial sense.^[7][8] In commission, of a warship under an officer's command, is from 1733, and out of commission from 1878, later extended to any machinery.^[3] The verb, “to empower or authorize by commission”, is from about 1661,^[4][2] of officers from 1793, and of ships from 1796.^[3] Ordering a work of art is a later sense.^[7] Commissioner is from 1427.^[4]

Timeline

• 1344 – delegated authority.^[4]
• 1418 – a document conferring authority.^[4]
• 1427 – commissioner.^[4]
• 1494 – a body of commissioners.^[4]
• 1590s – the act of committing.^[3]
• c. 1661 – verb, to authorize.^[4][2]
• 1672 – an officer's commission.^[6]
• 1733 – in commission.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A group of people officially appointed to do a particular task, such as an inquiry.
2. A payment to an agent or salesperson, often a percentage of the value of a sale.
3. An order for a piece of work, especially a work of art.
4. An official document giving the rank of an officer in the armed forces; the rank itself.
5. Authority to act; the task entrusted.
6. The act of committing, as of a crime.
7. in commission, out of commission: In or out of working order or service.

Verb

1. To order (a piece of work) from an artist or other maker.
2. To give a commission or rank to.
3. To put (a ship) into active service.

Word family

• commissional
• commissionable
• commissive
• commissively
• decommission
• intercommission
• subcommission
• commissioner

Related words

• commit
• commissionaire
• commissary
• committee
• mission
• emission
• omission

Usage notes

In Lincolnshire the Commission meant the Commission of Sewers.^[9] A separate cant commission, “a shirt”, is from 1567.^[6]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)