commissionaire
(‖ kɔmisjɔnɛr, kəˌmɪʃəˈnɛə(r))
Also -onn-.
[a. mod.F. commissionnaire commissioner, in some of the French applications of the title.]
‖ 1. One entrusted with small commissions; a messenger or light porter; the designation of various subordinate employés in public offices, private businesses, hotels, etc., on the Continent.
| 1765 H. Walpole Corr. (1837) III. 319 Besides being the best friend in the world you are the best commissionnaire in the world. 1835 Marryat Olla Podr. iv, I was confoundedly taken in by a rascal of a commissionnaire. 1872 G. W. Dasent Three to One II. 171 You would have sent off a messenger..a commissionaire. |
2. spec. A member of the Corps of Commissionaires, an association of pensioned soldiers, originally established in London in 1859, organized for employment as messengers, porters, time-keepers, etc. [Littré has ‘Homme qui stationne au coin de la rue, attendant les commissions du public’.] Now freq. used to designate the uniformed attendant at the entrance of a theatre, hotel, large shop, etc.
| 1869 Daily News 16 Dec., [A person] described as a messenger, was..charged with fraudulently imitating the dress of a commissionaire. 1895 A. Roberts Adventures x. 122, I quietly returned to the theatre, and had time to tell the story to the commissionaire. 1961 Bowman & Ball Theatre Lang. 73 Commissionaire, a British term for a doorman. 1970 Oxford Mail 11 July 3/1 The case would have hinged on the evidence of an independent witness, Mr. Rolfe, commissionaire of Holyoake Hall, Headington. |