Kommission German · revision 36204

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1447|origins=la mittō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kɔ.mɪ.ˈsi̯oːn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''Kommission''' ''f'' (genitive Kommission, plural Kommissionen)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|commissio|t=order, summons]], a legal and administrative term borrowed in the 15th century.^(Kluge 2011|517)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020) The Medieval Latin senses developed from the classical noun for “union, connection”, derived from [[m|la|committō|t=to bring together, entrust]], from [[m|la|con-]] and [[m|la|mittō|t=to send]].^(Kluge 2011|517)^(Duden 7 2020)^(Wahrig Herkunftswörterbuch) The same word is [[nl|commissie]], [[en|commission]], [[fr|commission]] and [[sv|kommission]].^(Kluge 2011|517)

+

+ Pfeifer suggests that the sense “committee”, found from the same time, may owe something to the English word, which meant an authorized body from the late 15th century.^(Pfeifer 1993) The commercial sense follows [[it|commissione]].^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020)^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A document of 1447 from the Henneberg charters uses the word for a body charged with investigating or arranging a matter.^(DFWB) About 1450 Hermann von Sachsenheim's poem ''Die Mörin'' has it as a legal term for an order or summons: “On alle recht und commission” (“without any right or summons”).^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As a word of the law courts, ''Commission'' meant an order, a command or a summons in the 15th century; it became a common word for “order, task” only in the 17th century, and that sense lasted until the 19th century.^(DFWB)^(Pfeifer 1993) In southern Germany it still means an errand or a purchase.^(DFWB)

+

+ From the 16th century merchants used it, after the Italian model, for business done on someone else's account: Lorenz Meder's ''Handelbuch'' of 1558 describes a German merchant giving his Italian agent a commission to buy coins.^(DFWB)^(Paul 2002) The agent who does such business is the [[Kommissionär]], recorded from the 17th century after [[fr|commissionnaire]].^(Pfeifer 1993) The sense “committee” remained alongside these and is now the main one, as in [[Untersuchungskommission]].^(Paul 2002)^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1447 – First record, for a body charged with investigating a matter.^(DFWB)

+ * c. 1450 – Hermann von Sachsenheim uses it as a legal term for a summons.^(DFWB)

+ * 1558 – First record of the commercial sense, in Meder's ''Handelbuch''.^(DFWB)

+ * 17th century – ''Kommission'' “order, task” becomes common;^(DFWB)^(Pfeifer 1993) ''Kommissionär'' is recorded.^(DFWB)^(Pfeifer 1993)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|commission]] or [[m|en|committee]]: a body officially charged with a particular task: ''Der Stadtrat hat eine Kommission für den Hochwasserschutz gebildet''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A panel of [[m|en|expert|alt=experts]]: ''Eine Kommission aus Juristen prüft den Entwurf''.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary DE)

+ # ''(commerce, dated)'' An order for goods;^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007) ''in Kommission geben, nehmen'', to hand over or take goods to be sold on the owner's account.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Duden Fremdwörterbuch 2007)

+ # ''(dated, southern Germany)'' An [[m|en|errand]] or purchase.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(DFWB)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Kommissionär]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Kommissar]]

+ * [[Mission]]

+ * [[kompromittieren]]

+ * [[en|commission]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}