commitment

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kəˈmɪt.mənt/^[1]

Etymology

It is from English commit + -ment.^[2][3] Anglo-French had commettement.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The official consigning of someone to custody, as to prison: 1610s in Etymonline, 1621 in the OED, 1603 in MWU.^[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The referring of a bill to a committee is from 1640–41,^[4] and the committing of an offence, from 1611, is now obsolete.^[4][3] A warrant to commit someone to prison is from 1755.^[4] The pledging of oneself to a course of action, a promise, is from 1793,^[2][4] which led to an obligation or engagement in 1864.^[2]

Timeline

• 1603 – first known use.^[5]
• 1621 – consigning to custody.^[4]
• 1640–41 – referring a bill to committee.^[4]
• 1793 – a pledge.^[2][4]
• 1864 – an obligation.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A promise or pledge to do something.
2. Dedication to a cause, activity or person.
3. An obligation that limits one's freedom of action.
4. The official sending of a person to prison or to a mental hospital.
5. The referral of a bill to a committee.

Word family

• noncommitment
• precommitment

Related words

• commit
• committal
• noncommittal
• committee

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 d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster