commissario

Forms

commissario m (plural commissari)^[1] Old Italian forms include commessario, comessario and comissario.^[2][3] Commessario was used until the 19th century.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Medieval Latin commissārius (“one charged with a task”), from commissus, the past participle of Latin committō (“to entrust”).^[3][6][7][5] DEI, GDLI and the LEI call the Latin word Late Latin, the LEI citing the Latin thesaurus.^[8][4][5] The old form commessario follows commesso, the past participle of commettere.^[8][3]

The same learned word is Friulian comissàri, Romansh cumissari, French commissaire (from 1310), Old Occitan comessari, Catalan comissari, Spanish comisario (from 1383) and Portuguese comisário.^[4][6] Alto commissario and sottocommissario are taken from French haut commissaire and sous-commissaire.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in a Venetian pact with Aleppo of 1207–1208, where a commissario is the executor of a will.^[2] DELI's first record is the plural commessari in a Prato text of 1293, for a person charged with special duties.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the 14th century the commissario was an envoy who represented the state abroad, in a province or with the army, and a magistrate's delegate;^[2][4] Tuscan towns appointed them to look after particular areas of public life.^[2][4] The modern form commissario is recorded in Franco Sacchetti before 1400, and the sense “head of a special branch of public administration” in Firenzuola in 1548.^[3] Religious orders had commissaries over one or more provinces from 1511.^[4]

The modern state multiplied the titles: the police commissario, the commissario prefettizio who runs a town in place of its council, the Soviet commissario del popolo until 1946, the commissario politico of the partisan units, and in sport the commissario tecnico, the national team manager.^[9][10][11] The verb commissariare “to place under a commissioner” is recorded in 1981.^[6]

Timeline

• 1207–1208 – a Venetian pact with Aleppo uses the word for an executor.^[2]
• 1293 – the plural commessari is recorded in a Prato text.^[3]
• 1331 – a Pistoia merchant's letter has comissari.^[4]
• 1368 – comessario is recorded in a document from Monte Amiata.^[3][7]
• Before 1400 – Franco Sacchetti uses the form commissario.^[3]
• Before 1547 – Pietro Bembo uses commissariato.^[3]
• 1548 – Firenzuola uses commissario for the head of a branch of public administration.^[3]
• 1981 – the verb commissariare is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. An official appointed to the extraordinary administration of a public body or company in place of its ordinary organs: commissario straordinario, commissario prefettizio.^[7][9][10]
2. A person charged, temporarily or permanently, with a particular function; a commissioner: commissario di bordo, a ship's purser.^[7][9][12]
3. A member of a commission, especially an examining board: commissario d’esame.^[7][13][14]
4. In the Italian state police, an officer of the first executive rank, and formerly the head of a police station; a superintendent.^[7][10][1]
5. (sport) commissario tecnico, the manager of a national team, and commissario sportivo, a steward who checks that the rules are kept.^[10][12][14]
6. (history) commissario del popolo, a people's commissar, head of a ministry in the Soviet Union until 1946: commissario politico, the political officer of a partisan or communist unit.^[9][10]

Word family

• commissariato
• commissariale
• commissariare
• commissariamento

Related words

• commissione
• commettere
• commesso
• French commissaire

Usage notes

The feminine is commissaria.^[9][10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 15, 1515
5. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 3, 373
6. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1032
9. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
10. ^ a b c d e f Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
11. ^ Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
12. ^ a b Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
13. ^ Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
14. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli