Etymologically
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committee

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:32. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /kəˈmɪt.i/, US /kəˈmɪt̬.i/; law, “one committed”: UK /ˌkɒm.ɪˈtiː/, US /ˌkɑː.mɪˈtiː/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English commit + -ee, “one to whom something is committed”,[2][3][4] after Anglo-Norman comité, the past participle of cometre “to commit”,[5][2] which replaced Old French commis, from Latin commissus, the past participle of Latin committere.[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person to whom a charge or trust is committed: 1495,[7][6] the late 15th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

A body of people appointed or elected to deal with some special business is from 1621, first in Parliament,[6][7] either a new formation or an extension of the old noun.[2] The old sense, an individual, survives in law, where the committee of a person of unsound mind is the one to whom their care is committed, from 1765, pronounced with the stress on the last syllable.[7][4][1] The directors of the East India Company were each called a committee from 1681.[7]

Timeline

  • 1495 – a person entrusted with a duty.[7]
  • 1621 – a body of persons in Parliament.[6][7]
  • 1681 – a director of the East India Company.[7]
  • 1765 – the guardian of a lunatic (law).[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A group of people chosen to examine or deal with a particular matter.
  2. (law) A person to whom the care of someone or their property is entrusted.

Word family

  • committeeism
  • committal
  • committeeman
  • committeeperson
  • committeewoman
  • subcommittee
  • school committee
  • standing committee

References

  1. ^ a b 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  6. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ 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