committal

Etymology

It is formed from English commit + -al,^[2][3][4] like the earlier commitment;^[5] the OED compares that word and the earlier committance.^[2] Commit is from Latin committō (“to unite, bring together”), from com- (“with, together”) and mittō (“to send, let go”).^[3] The adjective committal, recorded from 1843, is probably formed after noncommittal;^[2][3] Etymonline dates it to 1884.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The committing of a crime, sin or error: 1616, in Thomas Beard's Retractive from Romish Religion.^[2] Etymonline likewise dates the sense "committing, commission" to the 1620s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From 1617 it was used of placing a person in custody or detention;^[2] from 1794 it also meant placing someone in an institution, now especially of compulsory admission to a psychiatric hospital.^[2] In 1779 it was first used of referring a bill or other matter to a committee,^[2] from 1802 of entrusting something to another's care;^[2] from 1823 it was used of consigning something to a place for good, especially a body to the grave or the sea.^[2][5] The sense of committing oneself to a course or policy appeared in 1835,^[2][3] while from 1832 the word was used of pledging resources, later especially troops, to a purpose.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the sense "commitment" only from 1789.^[6]

Timeline

• 1616 – the committing of a crime, sin or error.^[2][3]
• 1617 – the placing of a person in custody or detention.^[2]
• 1760 – a warrant for a person's imprisonment (obsolete by 1920).^[2]
• 1779 – the referring of a bill or matter to a committee.^[2]
• 1794 – the placing of a person in an institution for care.^[2]
• 1802 – the entrusting of something to another's care.^[2]
• 1823 – the consigning of something to a place, especially a body to the grave.^[2]
• 1824 – the committing of something to memory.^[2]
• 1832 – the pledging of resources to a purpose.^[2]
• 1835 – the committing of oneself to a course of action; a commitment.^[2][3]
• 1843 – adjective, that commits one to a course of action.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The sending of a person to prison, a psychiatric hospital or another institution: The court ordered his committal to a secure unit.^[7][2][6]
2. The burial of a body, or the placing of it in the sea or the fire at a cremation: a committal service at the graveside.^[6][5][2]
3. Commitment to a course of action or a cause; a pledge.^[6][2]
4. The committing of a crime or error.^[2][5]
5. (law, chiefly British) The sending of a defendant from a magistrates' court to a higher court for trial.^[6][5]

Adjective

1. Committing one to a course of action or a view.^[2]

Word family

• noncommittal

Related words

• commit
• commitment
• commission
• mission

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins