commission

Pluralcommissions

Formscommissions, commissioning, commissioned

1. 1
   official bodynouncountable

   An official group of people tasked with carrying out a particular function.

   The government appointed a commission to review the new housing law.

   The commission published its findings after a year of public hearings.

   UsageUsually set up or appointed to do a job, and named for its subject with on: a commission on human rights.

   Similarcommittee

   Note

   Official bodies often carry the word in their names, and there it is capitalized as part of the title: the European Commission, the Electoral Commission, the Federal Communications Commission. Committee is its close synonym. A commission, though, is defined by the mandate it was given, whether it is a national regulator or a company's harassment commission making sure every employee completes training. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • The European Commission is an official body, with Commission capitalized in its name. commission.europa.eu
   • The Electoral Commission is an official body, with Commission capitalized in its name. electoralcommission.org.uk
   • The Federal Communications Commission is an official regulatory body, with Commission capitalized in its name. usa.gov
2. 2
   sales feenouncountable or uncountable

   A fee that an agent or broker charges for carrying out a transaction.

   The broker took a five percent commission on the sale.

   Sales staff here receive a commission for each contract they close.

   UsagePaid or taken on a sale; someone who works on commission is paid by what they sell.

   Similarfee, cut, percentage, brokerage, share

   Note

   The money side of acting for someone is an agent's or broker's cut, usually stated as a percentage: a four percent commission. G. K. Chesterton's The Scandal of Father Brown (1935) shows its shadier relative, secret commissions, which a salesman took and gave to rig a monopoly on the drink sold in a hotel.

3. 3
   have something madeverbtransitive

   To formally order the creation of something, often a piece of art.

   The city commissioned a sculpture to honor its founders.

   Wealthy patrons often commission portraits from famous artists.

   UsageYou commission a work from an artist, or commission the artist to make it.

   Similarorder, request

4. 4
   bring into useverbtransitive

   To put a ship, or a machine, plant or system, into active service or working use.

   The navy will commission its newest aircraft carrier next spring, after months of sea trials.

   Engineers must commission each vessel before it joins the fleet.

   UsageOften passive with a date: the ship was commissioned in 1944.

   Oppositedecommission

   Note

   Naval usage reaches well beyond the fleet, because equipment and installations are commissioned too. Chris Howe, writing in RAIL in 2023, describes a 1.7-mile conveyor system at Old Oak Common commissioned in November 2022. The word marks the moment something built becomes something working.

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To officially charge a person or group with carrying out a task.

   The agency commissioned researchers to study the river's pollution.

   The governor plans to commission a team of engineers to study why the dam failed.

   UsageCommission someone to do something, less often with doing it; often passive: she was commissioned to write a report.

   Similarengage, hire, task, appoint, authorize

   Note

   In the armed forces it narrows further: an officer is commissioned from an academy such as Sandhurst, which means receiving the officer's commission itself.

6. 6
   officer ranknouncountable

   An official charge or authority to carry out a duty, especially an appointment as a military officer.

   He earned a commission in the navy after years of training.

   The officer resigned her commission to enter politics.

   UsageAn officer receives or earns a commission in the army or navy, and resigns it on leaving.

   Note

   Here the authority is something you can hold and show. Shakespeare's Richard the Third has "Let him see our commission," and Swift's Lilliputians speak of "due Respect to your Majesty's Commission." In military use the usual verbs are receive, earn and resign: an officer may receive a commission on graduating and resign it on leaving. The verb names the same act from the side that grants it. Source

   Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • A commission can be a physical document showing official authority. folger.edu
   • Shakespeare's Richard III contains the quoted words, spoken by the First Murderer. folger.edu
   • Swift's Lilliputians use the quoted expression in their inventory of Gulliver's possessions. gutenberg.org
   • An officer can receive a commission upon graduation from officer training. jag.navy.mil
   • Leaving service does not necessarily entail resigning a commission; Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Marines Reserve officers normally retain theirs. sccd.royalnavy.mod.uk
7. 7
   nouncountable

   A task or piece of work that someone is given to do for another person, such as an order for a work of art.

   The messenger completed his commission and returned by nightfall.

   The architect's latest commission, a library for a small college, took her four years to complete.

   UsageOften a commission to do something, or a commission for a piece of work: a commission for a mural.

   Similarcontract

8. 8
   doing wrongnouncountable or uncountable

   The act of committing something, such as a crime or error.

   The commission of such an error can ruin a company's reputation.

   The law distinguishes the commission of a crime from merely planning one.

   UsageUsually the commission of a crime or error, mostly in legal and moral writing; the opposite is omission.

   Similarperpetration, committing

   Oppositeomission

   Note

   The noun of commit survives mostly in law and morals: the commission of a crime, an error, an act of terrorism. Its natural opposite is omission, so the doing of a wrong is set against the failure to do a duty. Robert South's sermons put it plainly: "Every commission of sin introduces into the soul a certain degree of hardness."

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