▪ I. commission, n.1
(kəˈmɪʃən)
Also 4–7 with usual interchange of mm and m, i and y, ss and s or c, o and ou.
[a. F. commission, ad. L. commissiōn-em, n. of action f. committ-ĕre to commit, entrust, etc.]
Etymologically: The action of committing, or fact of being committed, in the various senses of commit, but chiefly that of ‘entrust’, ‘give in charge’. Many specific uses were developed before the word became English, so that the senses show no logical order here.
1. a. Authoritative charge or direction to act in a prescribed manner; order, command, instruction. (Generally, of the commissioning authority.)
| c 1440 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 574/21 Commissio, a commyssion. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 5 Commanded by strayte commyssyons & maundements that euery beest shold come thyder. 1535 Coverdale Ezra viii. 36 They delyuered the kynges commyssion unto the kynges officers. 1556 J. Heywood Spider & F. lx. 10 His looke was commission, silence to commaund. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 118 Such Commission from above I have receav'd, to answer thy desire Of knowledge within bounds. 1742 Young Nt. Th. ix. 635 Stars teach, as well as shine. At nature's birth, Thus, their commission ran—‘Be kind to man’. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xiii. 297 They gave him no direct commission to bind them to any consent. |
b. to have it in commission: to have it authoritatively committed or entrusted to one to do.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vii. ix. 202 Ðare bad þai And þare gave absolutyown, As þai had in-to comyssyown. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 144, I have it in Commission, to comfort the feeble minded, and to support the weak. 1833 H. Coleridge North. Worthies (1852) I. 75 He [Parker] is the first minister of the Gospel that ever had it in his commission to rail at all nations. |
2. a. Authority committed or entrusted to any one; esp. delegated authority to act in some specified capacity, to carry out an investigation or negotiation, perform judicial functions, take charge of an office, etc. (Said to be that of the authorizing person, and also of the person authorized.)
| 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccviii. 190 He axed the keyes of the yates of the Cyte thurgh vertue and strengthe of his commyssyon. 1535 Coverdale Jer. xxix. 31 Semeia hath prophecied vnto you without my commyssion. 1549 Compl. Scot. xiv. 116 Artabasus, to quhome he gef commissione til accord vitht pausanias. 1588 Fraunce Lawiers Log. i. vii. 41 The Lawe abhorreth such thinges as are doone without authoritie or commission. a 1654 Selden Table-t. (Arb.) 88 Eat within your Stomack, act within your Commission. 1754 Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. i. 2 The Authority and divine Commission of Christ. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 355 Dundee..had summoned all the clans which acknowledged his commission to assemble for an expedition into Athol. |
b. spec. That of an officer in the army or navy. Hence such phrases as to accept, receive, hold a commission. (Some of these phrases probably originated with the instrument, as in 3 b, c.)
| 1672 Dryden Marr. à la Mode Dram. Wks. III. 234, I was so vext, that I was just laying down my Commission. 1705 Double Welcome xxvii, Cowards must lay their bought Commissions down. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 19 ¶10 Polyphilus in a short time obtained a commission. 1844 Regul. & Ord. Army 63 No person is eligible to hold a Commission in the Army until he has attained the age of sixteen years. 1859 W. Collins Q. of Hearts 3 Before his mother's death George had obtained his commission. |
c. commission of the peace: the authority given under the Great Seal empowering certain persons to act as Justices of the Peace in a specified district. Hence on the commission: having the office of Justice of the Peace.
| 1533 More Apol. xlii. Wks. 909/1 My selfe whan I was chaunceler, vpon such secret informacion haue put some out of comission & offyce of iustice of the peace. 1592 Greene Art Conny-catch. iii. 5 Knowne to be within commission of the peace. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 97 No sir Iohn, it is my Cosin Silence: in Commission with mee. 1765 Blackstone Comm. (1793) 435 If a man was named in any commission of the peace. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xxx, As I am in the commission of the peace I undertake to secure you. |
3. a. A warrant or instrument conferring such authority.
| c 1380 Antecrist in Todd 3 Treat. Wyclif 131 To catch treue men wiþ writtes & commyssiouns. 1441 in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 35 I. 107 We wol and charge you that under oure Seel..ye do make our Writtes and Commissions in due fourme. 1544 in E. Lodge Illust. Brit. Hist. (1791) I. 71 Upon the receipt of suche lettres, instruccions, commission, and writings. Ibid. I. 89 The Archbishoppe of York shal..bring w{supt} him suche commissions as youe desired. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. iv. 1 Whil'st our Commission from Rome is read, Let silence be commanded. 1790 Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. II. 193 Pondicherry, whither he was obliged to go to open his commission. 1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 274/2 The lord chancellor, with other peers appointed by commission under the great seal. |
b. spec. The warrant by which an officer in the army or navy exercises command: † (a) in the old system of raising forces, a warrant which authorized the holder to raise, equip, and command a body of soldiers in the name of the issuing authority; (b) now, the warrant by which all officers in the army from the ensign upwards, and in the navy from the lieutenant upwards, are appointed to the rank and command they hold.
| 1643 Declar. conc. Ireland 21 Lord Barnewall of Trimlestowne and his son, who hath a Commission for a Troop of Horse. c 1685 Murray in M. Morris Claverhouse viii. (1888) 140 The King ordered two commissions to be drawn, for your brother and Claverhouse to be brigadiers. 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 4004/2 Three Colonels who had Commissions in their Pockets from Ragotzi. 1833 Marryat P. Simple xl, My commission [as lieutenant] had been made out some days before..I..hastened away with my invaluable piece of parchment in my hand. |
c. The order by virtue of which an officer takes the command of a ship in active service.
| 1833 Marryat P. Simple liii, Our new captain..came on board the hulk..and read his commission. |
d. In various specific applications, in which senses 2 and 3, and sometimes 6, are apt to be combined: e.g.
commission of anticipation, commission of association, commission of inquiry, commission of sewers, etc.; commission of array (see array 3); † commission of bankruptcy, a commission issued by the Lord Chancellor, appointing commissioners to administer a bankrupt's estate on behalf of the creditors; commission of lunacy, a commission issued to investigate whether a person is a lunatic or not; commission of rebellion, a commission empowering certain persons to apprehend as a rebel one who has not appeared before a court on being summoned.
| 1532 Act 23 Hen. VIII, c. 1 That commissions of Sewers..shal be directed..to such substantiall and indifferent persons as shall be named by the Lord Chancellor. 1576 Act 18 Eliz. c. 3 Her Maiesty..may..grant commission and commissions of association or associations, vnder the great Seale of England. 1641 Termes de la Ley 67 Commission of Rebellion, otherwise called, A Writ of Rebellion..is directed by way of command, to certaine persons, to the end that they, or three, two, or one of them, shall apprehend, or shall cause to be apprehended the partie, as a Rebell. 1670 Blount Law Dict., Commission of Anticipation, was a commission under the Great Seal, to collect a Subsidy before the day. Commission of Association, is a Commission under the Great Seal, to associate two or more learned persons, with the several Justices in the several Circuits and Counties in Wales. 1713 Lond. Gaz. No. 5107/3 A Commission of Bankrupt is awarded against Samuel Stable. 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. 67 A Commission of review is a commission sometimes granted, in extraordinary cases, to revise the sentence of the court of delegates; when it is apprehended they have been led into a material error. 1803 Mackintosh Def. Peltier Wks. 1846 III. 268 Whether a commission of lunacy be not..more fitted to the author's case. 1837 Sir F. Palgrave Merch. & Friar ii. (1844) 60 A commission of rebellion will bring you to your senses. 1863 H. Cox Instit. i. ix. 155 Commissions of inquiry are issued by the Crown. |
e. The period of active service of a warship (see 5 c).
| 1882 W. H. White Man. Naval Archit. (ed. 2) vi. 231 The commanding officer of one of these ships has stated ‘that they may go through a commission and never heel or roll more than one or two degrees’. |
4. An office conferred by such a warrant; a commissionership.
| 1708 Swift Sacram. Test, The commissions of the revenue are soon disposed of. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Aristocr. Wks. (Bohn) II. 82 In the army, the nobility fill a large part of the high commissions. |
5. The condition of being authoritatively entrusted or given in charge.
Hence in commission. a. Of persons: In the exercise of delegated authority.
| 1573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden Soc.) 49 Appointed to sit in Commission of the matter. 1601 B. Jonson Poetaster v. i, Virg. Are you contented to be tried by these? Tuc. Ay, so the noble captain may be joined with them in commission. 1605 Shakes. Macb. i. iv. 2 Is execution done on Cawdor? Or not those in Commission yet return'd? a 1631 Donne Serm. v, He established Moses..joining his brother Aaron in commission with him. |
b. Of an office: Placed by warrant in the charge of a body of persons, instead of the regular constitutional administrator: some offices, as those of Treasurer and Lord High Admiral, are now permanently administered in this way by Lords Commissioners.
| 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. iii. (1843) 84/2 The treasury was for the present put into commission. 1667 Pepys Diary (1877) V. 389 An argument to insinuate the putting of the Admiralty into Commission. 1851 H. Martineau Hist. Peace (1877) III. v. i. 200 The great seal was for some time in commission, from the difficulty of finding a chancellor. 1861 Maine Anc. Law iii. 62 At the expulsion of the Tarquins..the monarchy was put into commission. |
c. Of a ship of war: Under the command of an officer for active service; manned, armed, and ready for sea; said also of the officer in command.
| 1733 Derby Mercury II. No. 47 His Majesty's Ships of War lately put in Commission. 1861 Sat. Rev. 14 Dec. 602 Several of these vessels are ordered for commission at the different dockyards. 1882 Hamley Traseaden Hall III. 88 There are always some ships in commission even in times of peace. 1886 Whitaker's Almanack 181 Naval Service..Flag officers in commission..Flag officers on the active list. |
So out of commission (of a ship): Laid up or in reserve; also transf., not in service or working order; out of use; unable to function (orig. U.S.).
| 1890 Globe 13 Sept. 7/2 The cruiser Forth..pays out of commission to-day. 1904 G. S. Porter Freckles 181 I'll play and you'll sing, and we'll put the birds out of commission. 1907 M. C. Harris Tents of Wickedness iv. ii. 342 From those [houses]..there came little light, there was..a general look of being out of commission. 1954 R. P. Bissell High Water iii. 33 By the time we get to Dubuque the locks will be out of commission. 1956 A. H. Compton Atomic Quest 236 War plants whose buildings could be put out of commission by the explosion. |
6. A body of persons charged with some specified function, as the discharge of an office or trust, the investigation of some legal case, etc.; a body of commissioners.
Thus a Royal Commission to examine into the operation of any measure or charity; a Parliamentary Commission; ‘the Parnell Commission’. See also quot. 1871.
| 1494 Fabyan Chronicle vii. 484 The whiche commyssion..spente a great parte of the Lent in disputacions of this matier. 1576 in W. H. Turner Select. Records of Oxford 387 The Commyssyon of Sewers. 1625 Bacon Ess., Counsel (Arb.) 329 They are in effect no more, then Standing Commissions: Save that they have greater Authority. 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) I. iv. 201 Several temporary commissions had sat under this act with continually augmented powers. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 354 The power which the Lord Lieutenants exercised in other parts of the kingdom was in London entrusted to a Commission of eminent citizens. 1871 Rainy Life Cunningham vii. 103 He had given evidence before the Royal Commission in Edinburgh. Ibid. viii. 110 In November 1835 the Commission of the General Assembly, or Standing Committee of the whole house, held its ordinary quarterly meeting. |
7. High Commission (Court): a court of ecclesiastical jurisdiction founded by a statute of Queen Elizabeth which gave the crown power to commission persons to try various offences against the ecclesiastical establishment, and to crush any resistance to the supremacy of the crown in these matters; abolished in 1641.
| 1588 Marprel. Epist. (Arb.) 19 Who abuseth the high commission, as much as any? 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. (1851) 291 The illegall proceedings of the high Commission. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. (1843) 38/1 Persons of honour and great quality..were every day cited into the high-commission court..and were there prosecuted to their shame and punishment. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. vi. §51 The power of the high Commission began now to extend far, and penalties to fall heavie. 1768 Blackstone Comm. III. 67. 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) I. iv. 186. |
8. The action of committing or giving in charge; the entrusting of (authority, etc., to any one).
| 1883 Manch. Guardian 17 Oct. 5/3 The commission of the licensing power to Town Councils and County Boards. |
9. A charge or matter entrusted to any one to perform; an order to execute a particular work.
| 1570 G. Buchanan Chamæleon in Hist. Scot. (1827) I. Pref. 92 He did his commissioun sa weill. 1696 tr. Dumont's Voy. Levant xxvi. 351 Those who undertake such a commission. 1717 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. II. xliv. 26 You have at length found a commission for me that I can answer without disappointing your expectations. 1793 Ld. Auckland Corr. (1862) III. 31 [He] undertook at my request to go to Brussels on a commission to the Comte de Mercy. 1853 Dickens Lett. (1880) I. 314 If I can execute any little commission for you. 1862 Trollope Orley F. lxxiii, It was indeed a terrible commission..to undertake. |
10. Authority given to act as agent or factor for another in the conduct of business or trade; the system of trading in which a dealer acts as agent for another, generally receiving a percentage as his remuneration. Hence to have goods on commission.
| 1622 Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 109 When Merchants by their Letters or Commissions vse these or the like words. 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman (1841) I. Introd. 3 Sold by commission from the makers. 1774–82 Barclay Dict., Commission..in Trade it sometimes means the power of acting for another, and sometimes the premium or reward a person receives for so doing, which is ½, 1, 2, 3 or more per cent. according to the nature or circumstances of the affair. 1796 [see commission-man in 13]. 1887 Pall Mall G. 3 Mar. 11/2 The method of publication on commission, by which the publisher professed simply to charge 15 per cent. on all sales. |
11. A remuneration for services or work done as agent, in the form of a percentage on the amount involved in the transactions; a pro rata remuneration to an agent or factor.
| 1725 De Foe Voy. round W. (1840) 20 The merchants had their several commissions and other profits upon the sale. 1774 [see 10]. 1832 Babbage Econ. Manuf. xxxi. (ed. 3) 326 He must also pay a commission, usually five per cent., to his London agent. |
12. a. The committing (of crime, offence, etc.).
| 1597 Howson Serm. 24 Dec. 40 We haue auoided all sinnes of omission and commission. 1660 R. Coke Power & Subj. 127 The commission of anything against the laws is a sin of injustice. 1743 Fielding Jon. Wild iii. iii, In the commission of murder. 1824–9 Landor Imag. Conv. (1846) II. 43 There are very few men..who delight in the commission of cruelty. 1885 Law Times LXXX. 116/1 Charged with the commission of offences in foreign countries. |
b. An act (offence, crime) committed; a performance.
| 1659 Hammond On Ps. li. 14 Paraphr. 263 Deliver me from this one, as from those other foul Commissions. 1826 Beddoes Let. in Poems p. lix, A new edition of his rhymed and prosy commissions. |
13. Comb. commission-agent, an agent who transacts business for others on the principle of commission or percentage, spec. a bookmaker; so commission-business; commission-broker, an agent for the sale or purchase of commissions in the army or navy; commission-day, the opening day of assizes, when the commission authorizing the judge to hold them is opened and read; † commission-man, commission-merchant, one who transacts business for others on the principles of commission or percentage; commission note, a written promise to pay commission to an agent; † commission-officer, an officer (generally military) holding office by a commission, a commissioned officer; commission rank, the rank of a commissioned officer; commission-word, a word that serves as a commission or warrant.
| 1832 Chambers's Jrnl. I. 225/3 Thus the Consul is a vast *commission agent. 1963 Times 12 June 19/2 E. Rose & Co. (Bookmakers), and Ray & Co. (Commission Agents). 1968 Lebende Sprachen XIII. 83/2 All orders for the purchase..of securities..are carried out by the bank as commission agent. |
| 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) IV. xcvii. 226 Money to satisfy the expectations of the *commission-brokers. 1769 Junius Lett. ii. (1804) I. 19 The dignity of the commander in chief, is depraved into the base office of a commission-broker. |
| 1753 Hanway Travels (1762) II. i. iii. 17 A great part of this branch of *commission-business is..fallen into the hands of the merchants. |
| 1883 M. D. Osbaldeston in Law Times 20 Oct. 411/2 No assize business is ever, as a rule, commenced on the *commission-day. |
| 1796 Hull Advert. 16 Jan. 1/1, I. Burnett, Grocer and *Commission Man..will be glad to sell on Commission for any Merchant. |
| 1899 Westm. Gaz. 13 May 7/2 She did not know when or where she signed the *commission note. 1908 Daily Chron. 15 Jan. 7/2 [He] signed the commission notes on the assumption that he did belong to the senior branch. |
| 1650 Cromwell Lett. & Sp. (Carlyle 1871) III. 45 Not one *Commission-officer slain. 1679 Oates Narr. Popish Plot 43 They had procured several Irish to be made Commission-Officers in the Garrisons in Ireland. 1708 Royal Proclam. 30 Dec. in Lond. Gaz. No. 4504/2 All Justices of the Peace, Chief Magistrates, Vice-Admirals, and other Commission-Officers. |
| 1898 Westm. Gaz. 8 Jan. 7/2 Facilities for promotion to *commission rank in the Royal Marines. |
| a 1845 Hood Two Swans v, Freedom's sweet key-note and *commission-word. |
▪ II. † coˈmmission, n.2 Cant. Obs.
[app. a perversion of It. camicia, late L. camisia shirt, or some cognate form of the same word.]
A shirt.
| 1567 Harman Caveat 83 Peddelars Frenche..a commission, a shierte. 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Praise Clean Linen Wks. ii. 167/1 Cleane linnen yeelds a shirt before we rise, Which..in the canting tongue is a commission. 1725 New Cant. Dict. Song 7, I no Togeman wear, No Commission, Mish, or Slate. |
▪ III. commission, v.
(kəˈmɪʃən)
[f. commission n.1, perh. after F. commissioner, or med.L. commissiōnāre.]
1. a. trans. To furnish with a commission or legal warrant; to empower by a commission.
| a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) I. vii. 28 Any sergeant commissioned to ride the circuit. 1863 H. Cox Instit. ii. ii. 302 The King having..commissioned the newly constituted judges to administer justice. |
† b. spec. To give (a person) a commission for a rank in the army or navy. Obs.
| a 1714 Marlborough in C. Knight Pop. Hist. Eng. (1859) V. xx. 307 Notice taken in Parliament, of children's being commissioned in the troops. 1789 Constit. U.S. Art. ii. §2 The president..shall commission all officers of the United States. |
c. Naval. To give (an officer) command of a ship by means of a commission; to order (a ship) for active service, put in commission; to assume the charge of (a ship) as the commanding officer. Also intr. Of a ship: to commence active service, to be put in commission.
| 1793 Bentinck in Ld. Auckland's Corr. III. 47, I have hopes of being commissioned at a very early day for the ‘Adamant’ of fifty guns. 1796 Burke Regic. Peace Wks. VIII. 369 The new ships which we commission, or the new regiments which we raise. 1887 Poor Nellie (1888) 288 A new ironclad just commissioned by his friend Captain Vincent. 1915 ‘Bartimeus’ Tall Ship i. 17 There's a super-Dreadnought commissioning soon. 1928 C. F. S. Gamble N. Sea Air Station i. 38 In the Admiralty announcement..it was stated that the Hermes was to ‘commission on the 7th May as parent ship of the Naval Air Services’. |
2. To give authority to act; to empower, authorize; to entrust with an office or duty.
| 1683 Dryden Ded. Plutarch's Lives 5 [I am] commission'd from the translators of this volum to inscribe their labours..to your grace's name and patronage. 1736 Butler Anal. ii. vii. 365 That religion, which he commissioned them to publish. 1768 Gray Corr. w. Nicholls (1843) 76, I am commissioned to make you an offer which I have told him..you would not accept. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) III. xiii. 298 They had commissioned William to speak in their names. |
3. To send on a mission, dispatch.
| 1697 Dryden æneid (J.), A chosen band He first commissions to the Latian land, In threat'ning embassy. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. iv. ii. 245 Us he commissioned by the swiftest courses Thee to assist. |
4. To give a commission or order to (a person) for a particular piece of work; chiefly used of the orders given to artists.
| a 1806 J. Barry Lect. Art vi. (1848) 235 Had it been Sir Joshua's fortune to have lived a little longer, and, whether commissioned or not, had he contrived to have left in this great city some work. 1883 Lloyd Ebb & Flow II. 186, I have commissioned him to do a sketch of the park for me. |
5. To give a commission or order for; to order.
| 1790 Burns Let. to Hill 2 Mar., The books I commissioned in my last. 1795 Scots Mag. LVII. 539/2 He commissioned the pistols from England, and paid 50s. for them. 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. xv, I've commissioned a walking-stick for my Lord from Paris. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. i. i, Beaumarchais..has commissioned sixty-thousand stand of good arms out of Holland. |
Hence coˈmmissioning vbl. n.
| 1886 All Y. Round 4 Sept. 103 Joining a ship in the first throes of Commissioning. 1888 Pall Mall G. 7 Feb. 11/2 The complete commissioning of our police for the Russian service. |