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commission
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English commissioun, from Old French commission, from Latin commissiō (“sending together; commission”), from prefix com- (“with”) + noun of action missiō (“sending”), from perfect passive participle missus (“sent”), from the verb mittō (“to send”) + noun of action suffix -iō.
Noun
commission (countable and uncountable, plural commissions)
- A sending or mission (to do or accomplish something).
- An official charge or authority to do something, often used of military officers.
- David received his commission after graduating from West Point.
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
- Let him see our commission.
- 1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Emperor of Lilliput, Attended by Several of the Nobility, Come to See the Author in His Confinement. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput), page 43:
- This is an exact Inventory of what we found about the Body of the Man-Mountain, who uſed us with great Civility, and due Reſpect to your Majefty's Commiſſion.
- The thing to be done as agent for another.
- I have three commissions for the city.
- A body or group of people, officially tasked with carrying out a particular function.
- Synonym: committee
- the European Commission
- the Electoral Commission
- the Federal Communications Commission
- The company's sexual harassment commission made sure that every employee completed the on-line course.
- 1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC:
- A commission was at once appointed to examine into the matter.
- A fee charged by an agent or broker for carrying out a transaction.
- Hyponyms: (to a broker) brokerage, (to a shroff) shroffage
- a reseller's commission
- The real-estate broker charged a four percent commission for their knowledge on bidding for commercial properties; for their intellectual perspective on making a formal offer and the strategy to obtain a mutually satisfying deal with the seller in favour of the buyer.
- 1935, G. K. Chesterton, The Scandal of Father Brown:
- [T]he scandal was the pretty common one of a corrupt agreement between hotel proprietors and a salesman who took and gave secret commissions, so that his business had a monopoly of all the drink sold in the place.
- The act of committing (e.g. a crime or error).
- Antonym: omission
- the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism
- 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
- Every commission of sin introduces into the soul a certain degree of hardness.
- 1974 February 2, “Manslaughter Charged in 'Self-Defense' Slaying”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 32, page 3:
- Two witnesses to the assault, both patrons of the bar at the time of the incident, were also subpoenaed, but they were requested to sign a waiver of immunity, which would allow their prosecution in the event that their testimony indicated their involvement in the commission of a crime.
Derived terms
- anticommission
- commission agent
- commissional
- commissionary
- commission bid
- commission breath
- commission de bene esse
- commissionee
- commissioner
- commissionless
- commissionship
- decommission
- discommission
- European Commission
- Great Commission
- housing commission
- intercommission
- liquor commission
- noncommission
- out of commission
- override one's commission
- royal commission
- subcommission
- trailing commission
Descendants
Translations
mission
|
official authority
|
the thing to be done as agent for another
|
body of officials
|
fee charged
|
the act of committing
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb
commission (third-person singular simple present commissions, present participle commissioning, simple past and past participle commissioned)
- (transitive) To send or officially charge someone or some group to do something.
- James Bond was commissioned with recovering the secret documents.
- 2012 August 1, Owen Gibson, London 2012: rowers Glover and Stanning win Team GB's first gold medal, Guardian Unlimited:
- Stanning, who was commissioned from Sandhurst in 2008 and has served in Afghanistan, is not the first solider[sic – meaning soldier] to bail out the organisers at these Games but will be among the most celebrated.
- (transitive) To place an order for (often a piece of art).
- He commissioned a replica of the Mona Lisa for his living room, but the painter gave up after six months.
- (transitive) To put (a ship or boat, etc.) into active service.
- The aircraft carrier was commissioned in 1944, during WWII.
- 2023 March 8, Chris Howe, “Building the platform for Old Oak Common's platforms”, in RAIL, number 978, page 60:
- The 1.7 mile-long conveyor system was commissioned in November 2022, and will remove one million lorry movements from the roads around West London.
Derived terms
Translations
send to do something
|
order a work of art
|
put into active service
|
Etymology 2
Compare Italian camicia and Romanian cămeșă.
Noun
commission (plural commissions)
- (UK, slang, obsolete) A shirt or chemise.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Taylor's Works, 1630 to this entry?)
- As from our beds, we doe oft cast our eyes, / Cleane linnen yeelds a shirt before we rise, / Which is a garment shifting in condition; / And in the canting tongue is a commission.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Taylor's Works, 1630 to this entry?)
Derived terms
References
- John Camden Hotten (1873), The Slang Dictionary
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Chinese
Etymology
From English commission. Compare Wu 康密興 / 康密兴 (1khaon-miq-shin).
Pronunciation
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: kam6 mit1 seon2
- Yale: kahm mīt séun
- Cantonese Pinyin: kam6 mit7 soen2
- Guangdong Romanization: kem6 mid1 sên2
- Sinological IPA (key): /kʰɐm²² miːt̚⁵ sɵn³⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Noun
commission
- (Hong Kong Cantonese) commission (fee)
Synonyms
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French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin commissiōnem.
Pronunciation
Noun
commission f (plural commissions)
- commission (fee charged by an agent or broker for carrying out a transaction)
- message
- faire une commission à quelqu'un ― to give a message to somebody
Derived terms
Descendants
Further reading
- “commission”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
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