Library / English Dictionary

COMMISSION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A special assignment that is given to a person or group

Example:

his charge was deliver a message

Synonyms:

charge; commission; mission

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("commission" is a kind of...):

assignment; duty assignment (a duty that you are assigned to perform (especially in the armed forces))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "commission"):

fool's errand (a fruitless mission)

mission impossible (an extremely dangerous or difficult mission)

martyr operation; sacrifice operation; suicide mission (killing or injuring others while annihilating yourself; usually accomplished with a bomb)

Derivation:

commission (charge with a task)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of committing a crime

Synonyms:

commission; committal; perpetration

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("commission" is a kind of...):

crime; criminal offence; criminal offense; law-breaking ((criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act)

Derivation:

commit (perform an act, usually with a negative connotation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of granting authority to undertake certain functions

Synonyms:

commission; commissioning

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("commission" is a kind of...):

authorisation; authorization; empowerment (the act of conferring legality or sanction or formal warrant)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "commission"):

mandate (the commission that is given to a government and its policies through an electoral victory)

Derivation:

commissioner (a government administrator)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An official document issued by a government and conferring on the recipient the rank of an officer in the armed forces

Synonyms:

commission; military commission

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("commission" is a kind of...):

certificate; certification; credential; credentials (a document attesting to the truth of certain stated facts)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A formal statement of a command or injunction to do something

Example:

the judge's charge to the jury

Synonyms:

charge; commission; direction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("commission" is a kind of...):

bid; bidding; command; dictation (an authoritative direction or instruction to do something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "commission"):

misdirection (an incorrect charge to a jury given by a judge)

Derivation:

commission (place an order for)

commissioner (a government administrator)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A special group delegated to consider some matter

Example:

a committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours

Synonyms:

commission; committee

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("commission" is a kind of...):

administrative body; administrative unit (a unit with administrative responsibilities)

Meronyms (members of "commission"):

committee member (a member of a committee)

commissioner (a member of a commission)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "commission"):

vestry (in the Protestant Episcopal Church: a committee elected by the congregation to work with the churchwardens in managing the temporal affairs of the church)

jury; panel (a committee appointed to judge a competition)

zoning commission (a commission delegated to supervise the zoning of areas for residential or commercial use)

praesidium; presidium (a permanent executive committee in socialist countries that has all the powers of some larger legislative body and that acts for it when it is not in session)

PAC; political action committee (committee formed by a special-interest group to raise money for their favorite political candidates)

politburo (the chief executive and political committee of the Communist Party)

finance committee (a committee appointed to consider financial issues)

ethics committee; ethics panel (a committee appointed to consider ethical issues)

steering committee (a committee to arrange the order of business for some larger (legislative) body)

standing committee (a permanent committee)

subcommittee (a subset of committee members organized for a specific purpose)

select committee (a parliamentary committee appointed for some special purpose)

conservancy (a commission with jurisdiction over fisheries and navigation in a port or river)

planning commission (a commission delegated to propose plans for future activities and developments)

fairness commission (a commission delegated to ensure opportunities for the expression of opposing views)

election commission (a commission delegated to supervise an election)

board (a committee having supervisory powers)

blue ribbon commission; blue ribbon committee (an independent and exclusive commission of nonpartisan statesmen and experts formed to investigate some important governmental issue)

Economic and Social Council commission; ECOSOC commission (a commission of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations)

Derivation:

commissioner (a member of a commission)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A group of representatives or delegates

Synonyms:

commission; delegacy; delegation; deputation; mission

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("commission" is a kind of...):

organisation; organization (a group of people who work together)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "commission"):

diplomatic mission (a mission serving diplomatic ends)

embassy (an ambassador and his entourage collectively)

Derivation:

commissioner (a member of a commission)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A fee for services rendered based on a percentage of an amount received or collected or agreed to be paid (as distinguished from a salary)

Example:

he works on commission

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Hypernyms ("commission" is a kind of...):

fee (a fixed charge for a privilege or for professional services)

Sense 9

Meaning:

The state of being in good working order and ready for operation

Example:

the motor was out of commission

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("commission" is a kind of...):

operation (the state of being in effect or being operative)

Derivation:

commission (put into commission; equip for service; of ships)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Charge with a task

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "commission" is one way to...):

authorise; authorize; clear; pass (grant authorization or clearance for)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

They commission him to write the letter

Derivation:

commission (a special assignment that is given to a person or group)

commissioner (a government administrator)

commissioning (the act of granting authority to undertake certain functions)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Put into commission; equip for service; of ships

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "commission" is one way to...):

equip; fit; fit out; outfit (provide with (something) usually for a specific purpose)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

commission (the state of being in good working order and ready for operation)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Place an order for

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "commission" is one way to...):

order (make a request for something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Derivation:

commission (a formal statement of a command or injunction to do something)

Credits

 Context examples: 

“It is time the boy had his commission. But if it be for you, then it cannot be from any one of much importance.”

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mrs. Palmer appeared quite well, and I am commissioned to tell you, that you will certainly see her to-morrow.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

No. I had not been back to Woking between getting the order and executing the commission.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Besides, some months have elapsed since the commission of his crimes, and no one can conjecture to what place he has wandered or what region he may now inhabit.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Following orbit insertion, MAVEN will begin a six-week commissioning phase that includes maneuvering into its final science orbit and testing the instruments and science-mapping commands.

(Mars Mission Spacecraft Enters Orbit around Red Planet, NASA)

It was a commission to touch every favourite feeling.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

For example, hourly, annual, or commission.

(Employee Salary Type, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

When I asked him if he had bought it, he answered that it was a present from a certain gracious lady in whose interests he had once been fortunate enough to carry out a small commission.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was agreed among us, however, that no definite statement should be given to the Press until we had met the members of the Zoological Institute, since as delegates it was our clear duty to give our first report to the body from which we had received our commission of investigation.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If you work on a commission or royalty basis, you will bring in more money after the Aries new moon of March 24 arrives.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)