commission
/kəˈmɪʃ(ə)n
/noun
1An instruction, command, or role given to a person or group: one of his first commissions was to redesign the Great Exhibition building [with infinitive]: he received a commission to act as an informer...
- I may not have realised all the dreams and hopes I had in my youthful idealism, but I have Jesus and his commands and his commissions.
- Unfortunately, he got drunk after receiving the sacred instruments of his commission and fell asleep by the roadside.
- Before Murdoch sailed, Fisher, now the Australian prime minister, gave him an official commission to report on the progress of the Gallipoli campaign.
Synonyms
task, employment, job, work, piece of work, project, mission, assignment, undertaking, exercise, enterprise, endeavour, solution;
duty, charge, responsibility, burden
dated office
1.1An order for something, especially a work of art, to be produced specially: Mozart at last received a commission to write an opera...
- 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.
- 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.
- For her premiere commission, she ‘wrote what I knew about’, her experience of working in inner-city primary schools.
1.2A work produced in response to a commission: in that year Zeuxis painted his most famous commission...
- The foundry was also responsible for many local commissions, including York's first gas lamps and the railings for St Leonard's Place.
- 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.
1.3 [mass noun] archaic The authority to perform a task or certain duties: the divine Commission of Christ...
- The active duty officer has a solemn professional responsibility based on his oath of office and commission for the official tasks he undertakes.
- 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 entrusted by a government or other official body with authority to do something: a commission was appointed to investigate allegations of police violence...
- The commission, the inspection body for the health service, has undertaken only 15 such reviews nationally in nearly four years - none previously in Yorkshire.
- Minority community representatives should be included in all government-appointed educational bodies and commissions.
- The commission has the authority to summon anyone, including state officials without the approval of the president.
Synonyms
committee, board, board of commissioners, council, panel, directorate, advisory body, advisorate, convocation, delegation
3A sum, typically a set percentage of the value involved, paid to an agent in a commercial transaction: foreign banks may charge a commission he sold cosmetics on commission...
- If they sell on, a South African agent will charge a commission of 7 per cent.
- There is a commission charge of 1 per cent of value on each ATM transaction.
- Customers should not pay more than a 5 per cent charge on all pension contributions on a commission basis.
Synonyms
percentage, brokerage, share, portion, dividend, premium, fee, consideration, bonus, gratuity, tip, honorarium
informal cut, take, whack, rake-off, slice, slice of the cake, piece of the action
British informal divvy
rare apportionment, quantum, moiety
4A warrant conferring the rank of officer in an army, navy, or air force: he has resigned his commission she intended to apply for a commission in the army...
- I resigned my commission and joined the Army National Guard after retiring from a career in finance.
- He went from being a lieutenant in the Soviet ‘Red’ Army to earning a commission in the U.S. Air Force, and has never looked back.
- In 1969, he applied for Officer Candidate School and earned a commission as an Infantry officer.
5 [mass noun] The action of committing a crime or offence: the commission of an arrestable offence the errors are of omission rather than commission...
- The suspension was prompted by what the SCPO saw as a risk of presumed future commission of criminal offences.
- The Apex Court accepted the contention of the petitioners that mens rea is necessary for commission of offences under these Sections.
- Furthermore, the evidence relates to the actual commission of the offence, rather than to an admission to an already completed offence.
Synonyms
perpetration, committing, committal, execution, performance
verb [with object]
1Order or authorize the production of (something): the portrait was commissioned by his widow in 1792...
- In the USA, a new US $5million production line was commissioned at the New Century Kansas facility.
- After a fruitless one-year search, I commissioned the design and production of smile pins.
- The sculpture was commissioned by O'Connor, formerly of North Cork and now resident in the UK.
Synonyms
order, put in an order for, place an order for, contract for, pay for;
authorize
rare bespeak
1.1 [with object and infinitive] Order or authorize (a person or organization) to do or produce something: they commissioned an architect to manage the building project he was commissioned to do a series of drawings...
- The Heytesbury Village Hall Development Group commissioned Michael Fowler architects to design the hall and nine houses.
- Miller commissioned the architect John Kinross to refurbish and extend his home in a manner appropriate to a member of the Edwardian nouveau riche.
- The former MP had commissioned William Chambers, George III's architectural tutor, and Capability Brown to rebuild his estate, Milton Abbey.
Synonyms
engage, contract, charge, employ, hire, recruit, retain, appoint, enlist, co-opt, book, sign up;
authorize, empower;
Military detail
2Bring (something newly produced) into working condition: we had a few hiccups getting the heating equipment commissioned the aircraft carrier was commissioned in 1945...
- The other approach, he says, is to determine what systems or equipment should be fully commissioned based on the impact a failure can have on an organization and its reliability needs.
- Before the new equipment at Slade Lane is commissioned at Christmas, there will be more weekend closures later in the year to finish it, meaning further disruption.
- I accept the submission that a contributing factor to the need for extra training was the delay by the contractor in having all the equipment in place, commissioned and operating on time.
3Appoint (someone) to the rank of officer in an army, navy, or air force: he was commissioned into the Royal Fusiliers (as adjective commissioned) a commissioned officer...
- He was commissioned into the US army just in time to see action in the final battles of the Mexican war.
- Brooke's poems were published in 1911, and after a year wandering in the North America and the South Seas, he was commissioned into the Royal Navy.
- In 1968, he was commissioned as an Infantry officer through ROTC after graduation from the University of Florida.
Phrases
in commission
out of commission
Origin
Middle English: via Old French from Latin commissio(n-), from committere 'entrust' (see commit).
Commission came into English via Old French from Latin committere ‘entrust’. Late Middle English commit is from the same root. Commissionaire (mid 17th century) came via French from medieval Latin commissarius ‘person in charge’, from committere. Committee, however, was formed in the late 15th century directly from commit and originally meant someone entrusting with something.