1An instruction, command, or duty given to a person or group of people.

1. 1.1 An order for something, especially a work of art, to be produced.
   Mozart at last received a commission to write an opera

   Example sentencesExamples

   • He has done a small number of private commissions but has undertaken no major painting work.
   • For her premiere commission, she ‘wrote what I knew about’, her experience of working in inner-city primary schools.
   • This has given the company a solid base on which to expand - selling silver goods wholesale to some of Europe's most prestigious jewellers and undertaking all manner of commissions.
   • His interpretation of Constructivism made him internationally famous, with commissions from all over the world.
   • The Glasgow-based artist will travel with his dealer, Matthew Flowers, to Italy in June, where he will meet with Catholic officials to discuss the commission.
   • Here, then, Alberti is speaking to would-be patrons and laying the groundwork for enlightened and responsible artistic commissions.
   • Equipped with an English degree and a dossier of poetry, she used to move in circles with short-story writers and poets until she stumbled on a commission to write her first play.
   • Shortly before Angela's death he took the Four Seasons commission, a major project.
   • I have turned down four other commissions in order to do yours.
   • His massive cycle of mass Propers, built round plainchant melodies, was composed partly in response to the Konstanz commission, partly for use by the imperial chapel choir.
   • The first warning I got from Mil when I landed the commission to write my first book was ‘don't read your reviews.’
   • In December 1894 Mucha became famous with a commission for a poster for the actress Sarah Bernard.
   • Le Corbusier, a staunch atheist, at first had refused to accept the commission to rebuild the chapel.
   • He moved to Paris in 1767, and after a couple of years had become so popular that he received regular commissions to write two or three operas a year for various theatres.
   • Sutherland accepted a commission to paint a Crucifixion for a church in Northampton.
   • It was only after health problems five years ago that he took early retirement and began painting again, using his business contacts to get commissions.
   • Cumbria Country Council asked Goldsworthy to undertake a major landscape commission in 1996.
   • The Venetian government and the confraternities were the most significant patrons, and their commissions to Venetian artists created a Venetian stylistic tradition.
   • Since choreographing Underland in Sydney, Stephen has been undertaking commissions in Sweden, Denmark, France and England through to 2005.
   • As well as large and small private commissions, they undertake corporate projects, particularly the decoration of show homes.

   Synonyms

   purchase order, request, requisition, demand, call
2. 1.2 A work produced in response to a commission.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Local painter Fiona Curran has her own website detailing all her latest commissions, projects and CV.
   • The shows on offer include seven world premieres and five new special commissions, as well as various eye-catching and imaginative ventures on the visual arts front.
   • The renowned sculptor Bob Allen, famous for commissions at Canary Wharf and of the late Queen Mother, will launch the event on Saturday with a private preview.
   • Later he worked as composer-in-residence at Glasgow's Tron Theatre, an invaluable experience as far as his later film commissions were concerned.
   • The foundry was also responsible for many local commissions, including York's first gas lamps and the railings for St Leonard's Place.
   • Fix, the product of this prestigious commission, will be performed at New Moves, the Glasgow-based international choreography festival.
   • Original dark wood panelling and elaborate cornicing are complemented by a patchwork-style velvet bedspread - an original commission by artist Jo Stewart.
   • While a variety of moulds are available, new ones are often made as special one-off commissions if requested.
   • The firm, which specialises in bespoke commissions in stainless steel and solid timber, will celebrate its first birthday in June.
   • Recent repertoire has included works by resident choreographer Myers, as well as choreography and commissions by artists Miller, King, and others.
   • He believes the 6ft 6in painting was a special commission by the Levy family, probably wealthy members of the Jewish community in Leeds.
   • An integral part of the redevelopment is an impressive series of site-specific art commissions by contemporary artists.
3. 1.3archaic The authority to perform a task or certain duties.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • The active duty officer has a solemn professional responsibility based on his oath of office and commission for the official tasks he undertakes.
   • Brown's reforms would retain the commission and the role of the Queen, but would remove the prime minister from the process.
   • It is essential that we start this project with clearly defined commission.
   • What we also found was that at the same time Mr Smith was in the employ and commission of the fishery company.

   Synonyms

   warrant, licence, sanction, authority

2A group of people officially charged with a particular function.

3An amount of money, typically a set percentage of the value involved, paid to an agent in a commercial transaction.

4A warrant conferring the rank of officer in an army, navy, or air force.

5The action of committing a crime or offense.

1Give an order for or authorize the production of (something such as a building, piece of equipment, or work of art)

1. 1.1 Order or authorize (a person or organization) to do or produce something.
   they commissioned an architect to manage the building project

   Example sentencesExamples

   • We met in London and she was commissioned to begin the first-ever modern contemporary state dance company in Turkey, so I moved there.
   • But Heggessey, who has commissioned him to front a £3 million series on extreme weather this autumn, may now be questioning whether he can live up to his billing.
   • The former MP had commissioned William Chambers, George III's architectural tutor, and Capability Brown to rebuild his estate, Milton Abbey.
   • Hotter has been working on Ned Kelly in various forms since 2002, when he was commissioned by the City Gallery to play the character at the Sidney Noland exhibition for corporate guests.
   • He was commissioned by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to organise the event, which will create a cultural network of events in each of the 12 bidding cities.
   • She's commissioned the Bureau of Statistics to do a study of both male and female violence which will report in a couple of years' time.
   • He has also commissioned Andrew Roberts, the flamboyant historian, to draw up a list of events children will be obliged to learn about under a Conservative government.
   • The new company would be commissioning outsiders to produce games.
   • When Cassels, the German architect, came to Sligo in 1730 to build Hazelwood House for the Wynne's, he was also commissioned to build St. John's.
   • The Heytesbury Village Hall Development Group commissioned Michael Fowler architects to design the hall and nine houses.
   • Michael was originally commissioned to research information for a documentary on Braddock, but this was later expanded when interest in a film on the boxer's life began developing.
   • Recognised for his bush ingenuity, he was soon commissioned to construct mobile camps for mineral exploration companies.
   • I have been a trucker and bus driver for 40 years and I think the council would have been better commissioning me or others like myself with some driving experience, it would have been cheaper and better.
   • The top Dublin radio station commissioned magician Keith Barry to wow the crowd of loyal listeners with his freakishly spooky illusionist abilities…
   • Miller commissioned the architect John Kinross to refurbish and extend his home in a manner appropriate to a member of the Edwardian nouveau riche.
   • Robbins was an impecunious 27-year-old journalist when he first met Hurst, then aged 80, who commissioned him to pen a screenplay for a biblical blockbuster.
   • The Scottish Executive clearly trusts him too - it has commissioned him to come up with a major event to promote the Highlands in 2007.
   • Yes, I was commissioned by the Government to make 30 documentaries on our freedom struggle starting with the 1857 uprising.
   • No one commissioned him to preach; and he belonged to no church.
   • We only need to deliver the services that people are commissioning us for.

   Synonyms

   engage, contract, charge, employ, hire, recruit, retain, appoint, enlist, co-opt, book, sign up

2Bring (something newly produced, such as a factory or machine) into working condition.

1. 2.1 Bring (a warship) into readiness for active service.
   the aircraft carrier Midway was commissioned in 1945

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Six months later, his training completed, he was assigned to the newly commissioned Alabama, one of four battleships of the swift South Dakota class.
   • During World War II she was mobilised with HMS Implacable and both ships were commissioned as HMS Foudroyant for training new entry ratings.
   • The new warship was commissioned on 5th June 2090, and unveiled to everyone abroad Hopson Yard.
   • She was commissioned into the RAN on July 11 1946 and renamed HMAS Tarakan on December 16 1948.
   • The ships were commissioned between 1993 and 1999.
   • In 1963 she was commissioned into the navy as a sail training ship and her first voyage took place on June 19th of the same year.
   • Five Batch 1 vessels were commissioned between 1989 and 1993.
   • The Constitution, which went into service in 1797, is the oldest fully commissioned warship in the world.
   • Laid down on 8 February 1943, the ship was launched and commissioned in just 165 days.
   • The two vessels will be commissioned into the Navy to fly the White Ensign, and will bear the names HMS Scimitar and Sabre.
   • Rushcutter was built at the Carrington Slipways in Newcastle and commissioned on November 1, 1986.
   • The first launch was laid down in September, 1942, and the final and 35th boat, commissioned during April, 1944.
   • But the former HMS Echo, a 160-ton inshore survey vessel commissioned in 1958, met her modern namesake in the English Channel.
   • Commissioning Ladies farewelled and welcomed patrol boats being decommissioned and commissioned within 24 hours in Darwin on June 23 and 24.
   • All four ships were commissioned in October 1995.
   • Glasgow was built at the Swan Hunter yard at Wallsend-on-Tyne and commissioned into the Royal Navy in May 1979, the fifth of 14 Type 42 air defence destroyers.
   • The ship, commissioned in 1955, is already undergoing work docked at Suisan Bay near San Francisco.
   • The flagship of the Italian Navy is the aircraft carrier MM Garibaldi, built by Fincantieri of Genoa and commissioned in 1985.
   • The ship's decommissioning ceremony was held in Great Yarmouth on the same jetty where the ship was commissioned, and representatives of the ship's affiliations were hosted at a reception.
   • She was commissioned into the fleet on February 12, 2000.

3Appoint (someone) to the rank of officer in the armed services.