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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.
1765H. Walpole Corr. (1837) III. 319 Besides being the best friend in the world you are the best commissionnaire in the world. 1835Marryat Olla Podr. iv, I was confoundedly taken in by a rascal of a commissionnaire. 1872G. 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.
1869Daily News 16 Dec., [A person] described as a messenger, was..charged with fraudulently imitating the dress of a commissionaire. 1895A. Roberts Adventures x. 122, I quietly returned to the theatre, and had time to tell the story to the commissionaire. 1961Bowman & Ball Theatre Lang. 73 Commissionaire, a British term for a doorman. 1970Oxford Mail 11 July 3/1 The case would have hinged on the evidence of an independent witness, Mr. Rolfe, commissionaire of Holyoake Hall, Headington. |