# commission

Pronunciation: say "kuh-MISH-uhn" /kəˈmɪʃən/

## Noun

1. An official group of people tasked with carrying out a particular function.
   - Simple: A group of people chosen to do a special job or look into something.
   - _The government appointed a commission to review the new housing law._
   - _The commission published its findings after a year of public hearings._
2. A fee that an agent or broker charges for carrying out a transaction.
   - Simple: Money paid to a salesperson or agent for each sale or deal they complete.
   - _The broker took a five percent commission on the sale._
   - _Sales staff here receive a commission for each contract they close._
6. An official charge or authority to carry out a duty, especially an appointment as a military officer.
   - Simple: Official authority given to someone to do a job, especially an appointment as an officer in the armed forces.
   - _He earned a commission in the navy after years of training._
   - _The officer resigned her commission to enter politics._
7. A task or piece of work that someone is given to do for another person, such as an order for a work of art.
   - Simple: A job someone is asked to do for another person, like painting a picture they ordered.
   - _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._
9. The condition of being in working order, in use, or in active service, heard mainly in the phrases in commission and out of commission.
   - Simple: The state of working or being ready to use, mostly in the phrases "in commission" and "out of commission."
   - _Two of the hospital's three scanners were out of commission for most of the week._
   - _The aging destroyer was kept in commission for years after newer ships joined the fleet._
8. The act of committing something, such as a crime or error.
   - Simple: The act of doing something wrong, such as a crime.
   - _The commission of such an error can ruin a company's reputation._
   - _The law distinguishes the commission of a crime from merely planning one._

## Verb

3. To formally order the creation of something, often a piece of art.
   - Simple: To ask someone to make something special for you, often a work of art.
   - _The city commissioned a sculpture to honor its founders._
   - _Wealthy patrons often commission portraits from famous artists._
4. To put a ship, or a machine, plant or system, into active service or working use.
   - Simple: To put a ship, machine, factory, or system into service or 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._
5. To officially charge a person or group with carrying out a task.
   - Simple: To officially give a person or group the job of doing something.
   - _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._

## Noun

10. A shirt or chemise. *(obsolete, UK)*
   - Simple: A shirt or light undershirt.

## Origin

Latin committō joined com- ('with') and mittō ('to send'); adding -tiō, a suffix that makes action nouns, gave commissiō ('sending together; commission'). That noun passed through Old French commission into Middle English as commissioun.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/commission (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).