Also 4–7 with usual interchange of mm and m, i and y, ss and s or c, o and ou. [a. F. commission, ad. L. commissiōn-em, n. of action f. committ-ĕre to COMIT, entrust, etc.] Etymologically: The action of committing, or fact of being committed, in the various senses of COMMIT, but chiefly that of ‘entrust,’ ‘give in charge.’ Many specific uses were developed before the word became English, so that the senses show no logical order here.
1. Authoritative charge or direction to act in a prescribed manner; order, command, instruction. (Generally, of the commissioning authority.)
c. 1440. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 574/21. Commissio, a commyssion.
1481. Caxton, Reynard (Arb.), 5. Commanded by strayte commyssyons & maundements that euery beest shold come thyder.
1535. Coverdale, Ezra viii. 36. They delyuered the kynges commyssion unto the kynges officers.
1556. J. Heywood, Spider & F., lx. 10. His looke was commission, silence to commaund.
1667. Milton, P. L., VII. 118. Such Commission from above I have receav’d, to answer thy desire Of knowledge within bounds.
1742. Young, Nt. Th., IX. 635. Stars teach, as well as shine. At nature’s birth, Thus, their commission ran—‘Be kind to man.’
1869. Freeman, Norm. Conq. (1876), III. xiii. 297. They gave him no direct commission to bind them to any consent.
b. To have it in commission: to have it authoritatively committed or entrusted to one to do.
c. 1425. Wyntoun, Cron., VII. ix. 202. Ðare bad þai And þare gave absolutyown, As þai had in-to comyssyown.
1684. Bunyan, Pilgr., II. 144. I have it in Commission, to comfort the feeble minded, and to support the weak.
1833. H. Coleridge, North. Worthies (1852), I. 75. He [Parker] is the first minister of the Gospel that ever had it in his commission to rail at all nations.
2. Authority committed or entrusted to any one; esp. delegated authority to act in some specified capacity, to carry out an investigation or negotiation, perform judicial functions, take charge of an office, etc. (Said to be that of the authorizing person, and also of the person authorized.)
1480. Caxton, Chron. Eng., ccviii. 190. He axed the keyes of the yates of the Cyte thurgh vertue and strengthe of his commyssyon.
1535. Coverdale, Jer. xxix. 31. Semeia hath prophecied vnto you without my commyssion.
1549. Compl. Scot., xiv. 116. Artabasus, to quhome he gef commissione til accord vitht pausanias.
1588. Fraunce, Lawiers Log., I. vii. 41. The Lawe abhorreth such thinges as are doone without authoritie or commission.
a. 1654. Selden, Table-t. (Arb.), 88. Eat within your Stomack, act within your Commission.
1754. Sherlock, Disc. (1759), I. i. 2. The Authority and divine Commission of Christ.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., III. 355. Dundee … had summoned all the clans which acknowledged his commission to assemble for an expedition into Athol.
b. spec. That of an officer in the army or navy. Hence such phrases as to accept, receive, hold a commission. (Some of these phrases probably originated with the instrument, as in 3 b, c.)
1672. Dryden, Marr. à la Mode, Dram. Wks. III. 234. I was so vext, that I was just laying down my Commission.
1705. [De Foe], Double Welcome, xxvii.
| Cowards must lay their bought Commissions down, | |
| Their Camps the Pit, and their Campaign the Town. |
1750. Johnson, Rambler, No. 19, ¶ 10. Polyphilus in a short time obtained a commission.
1844. Regul. & Ord. Army, 63. No person is eligible to hold a Commission in the Army until he has attained the age of sixteen years.
1859. W. Collins, Q. of Hearts, 3. Before his mother’s death George had obtained his commission.
c. Commission of the peace: the authority given under the Great Seal empowering certain persons to act as Justices of the Peace in a specified district. Hence On the Commission: having the office of Justice of the Peace.
1533. More, Apol., xlii. Wks. 909/1. My selfe whan I was chaunceler, vpon such secret informacion haue put some out of comission & offyce of iustice of the peace.
1592. Greene, Art Conny-catch., III. 5. Knowne to be within commission of the peace.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., III. ii. 97. No sir Iohn, it is my Cosin Silence: in Commission with mee.
1765. Blackstone, Comm. (1793), 435. If a man was named in any commission of the peace.
1766. Goldsm., Vic. W., xxx. As I am in the commission of the peace I undertake to secure you.
3. A warrant or instrument conferring such authority.
c. 1380. Antecrist, in Todd, 3 Treat. Wyclif, 131. To catch treue men wiþ writtes & commyssiouns.
1441. in Ellis, Orig. Lett., II. 35. I. 107. We wol and charge you that under oure Seel … ye do make our Writtes and Commissions in due fourme.
1544. in E. Lodge, Illust. Brit. Hist. (1791), I. 71. Upon the receipt of suche lettres, instruccions, commission, and writings. Ibid., I. 89. The Archbishoppe of York shal … bring wt him suche commissions as youe desired.
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., II. iv. 1. Whil’st our Commission from Rome is read, Let silence be commanded.
1790. Beatson, Nav. & Mil. Mem., II. 193. Pondicherry, whither he was obliged to go to open his commission.
1840. Penny Cycl., XVII. 274/2. The lord chancellor, with other peers appointed by commission under the great seal.
b. spec. The warrant by which an officer in the army or navy exercises command: † (a) in the old system of raising forces, a warrant that authorized the holder to raise, equip, and command a body of soldiers in the name of the issuing authority; (b) now, the warrant by which all officers in the army from the ensign upwards, and in the navy from the lieutenant upwards, are appointed to the rank and command they hold.
1643. Declar. conc. Ireland, 21. Lord Barnewall of Trimlestowne and his son, who hath a Commission for a Troop of Horse.
c. 1685. Murray, in M. Morris, Claverhouse, viii. (1888), 140. The King ordered two commissions to be drawn, for your brother and Claverhouse to be brigadiers.
1704. Lond. Gaz., No. 4004/2. Three Colonels who had Commissions in their Pockets from Ragotzi.
1833. Marryat, P. Simple, xl. My commission [as lieutenant] had been made cut some days before … I … hastened away with my invaluable piece of parchment in my hand.
c. The order by virtue of which an officer takes the command of a ship in active service.
1833. Marryat, P. Simple, liii. Our new captain … came on board the hulk … and read his commission.
d. In various specific applications, in which senses 2 and 3, and sometimes 6, are apt to be combined: e.g.
Commission of anticipation, of association, of inquiry, of sewers, etc.; commission of array (see ARRAY 3); † commission of bankruptcy, a commission issued by the Lord Chancellor, appointing commissioners to administer a bankrupt’s estate on behalf of the creditors; commission of lunacy, a commission issued to investigate whether a person is a lunatic or not; commission of rebellion, a commission empowering certain persons to apprehend as a rebel one who has not appeared before a court on being summoned.
1532. Act 23 Hen. VIII., c. 1. That commissions of Sewers … shal be directed … to such substantiall and indifferent persons as shall be named by the Lord Chancellor.
1576. Act 18 Eliz., c. 3. Her Maiesty … may … grant commission and commissions of association or associations, vnder the great Seale of England.
1641. Termes de la Ley, 67. Commission of Rebellion, otherwise called, A Writ of Rebellion … is directed by way of command, to certaine persons, to the end that they, or three, two, or one of them, shall apprehend, or shall cause to be apprehended the partie, as a Rebell.
1670. Blount, Law Dict., Commission of Anticipation, was a commission under the Great Seal, to collect a Subsidy before the day. Commission of Association, is a Commission under the Great Seal, to associate two or more learned persons, with the several Justices in the several Circuits and Counties in Wales.
1713. Lond. Gaz., No. 5107/3. A Commission of Bankrupt is awarded against Samuel Stable.
1768. Blackstone, Comm., III. 67. A Commission of review is a commission sometimes granted, in extraordinary cases, to revise the sentence of the court of delegates; when it is apprehended they have been led into a material error.
1803. Mackintosh, Def. Peltier, Wks. 1846, III. 268. Whether a commission of lunacy be not … more fitted to the author’s case.
1837. Sir F. Palgrave, Merch. & Friar, ii. (1844), 60. A commission of rebellion will bring you to your senses.
1863. H. Cox, Instit., I. ix. 155. Commissions of inquiry are issued by the Crown.
4. An office conferred by such a warrant; a commissionership.
1708. Swift, Sacram. Test. The commissions of the revenue are soon disposed of.
1856. Emerson, Eng. Traits, Aristocr., Wks. (Bohn), II. 82. In the army, the nobility fill a large part of the high commissions.
5. The condition of being authoritatively entrusted or given in charge.
Hence In commission. a. Of persons: In the exercise of delegated authority.
1573. G. Harvey, Letter-bk. (Camden Soc.), 49. Appointed to sit in Commission of the matter.
1601. B. Jonson, Poetaster, V. i. Virg. Are you contented to be tried by these? Tuc. Ay, so the noble captain may be joined with them in commission.
1605. Shaks., Macb., I. iv. 2. Is execution done on Cawdor? Or not those in Commission yet return’d?
a. 1631. Donne, Serm., v. He established Moses … joining his brother Aaron in commission with him.
b. Of an office: Placed by warrant in the charge of a body of persons, instead of the regular constitutional administrator: some offices, as those of Treasurer and Lord High Admiral, are now permanently administered in this way by Lords Commissioners.
1647. Clarendon, Hist. Reb., III. (1843), 84/2. The treasury was for the present put into commission.
1667. Pepys, Diary (1877), V. 389. An argument to insinuate the putting of the Admiralty into Commission.
1851. Ht. Martineau, Hist. Peace (1877), III. V. i. 200. The great seal was for some time in commission, from the difficulty of finding a chancellor.
1861. Maine, Anc. Law, iii. 62. At the expulsion of the Tarquins … the monarchy was put into commission.
c. Of a ship of war: Under the command of an officer for active service; manned, armed, and ready for sea; said also of the officer in command.
So Out of commission (of a ship): Laid up or in reserve.
1733. Derby Mercury, II. No. 47. His Majesty’s Ships of War lately put in Commission.
1861. Sat. Rev., 14 Dec., 602. Several of these vessels are ordered for commission at the different dockyards.
1882. Hamley, Trasenden Hall, III. 88. There are always some ships in commission even in times of peace.
1886. Whitaker’s Almanack, 181. Naval Service … Flag officers in commission … Flag officers on the active list.
1890. Globe, 13 Sept., 7/2. The cruiser Forth … pays out of commission to-day.
6. A body of persons charged with some specified function, as the discharge of an office or trust, the investigation of some legal case, etc.; a body of commissioners.
Thus a Royal Commission to examine into the operation of any measure or charity; a Parliamentary Commission; ‘the Parnell Commission.’ See also quot. 1871.
1494. Fabyan, Chronicle, VII. 484. The whiche commyssion … spente a great parte of the Lent in disputacions of this matier.
1576. in W. H. Turner, Select. Records of Oxford, 387. The Commyssyon of Sewers.
1625. Bacon, Ess., Counsel (Arb.), 329. They are in effect no more, then Standing Commissions: Save that they have greater Authority.
1827. Hallam, Const. Hist. (1876), I. iv. 201. Several temporary commissions had sat under this act with continually augmented powers.
1848. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., I. 354. The power which the Lord Lieutenants exercised in other parts of the kingdom was in London entrusted to a Commission of eminent citizens.
1871. Rainy, Life Cunningham, vii. 103. He had given evidence before the Royal Commission in Edinburgh. Ibid., viii. 110. In November 1835, the Commission of the General Assembly, or Standing Committee of the whole house, held its ordinary quarterly meeting.
7. High Commission (Court): a court of ecclesiastical jurisdiction founded by a statute of Queen Elizabeth which gave the crown power to commission persons to try various offenses against the ecclesiastical establishment, and to crush any resistance to the supremacy of the crown in these matters; abolished in 1641.
1588. Marprel. Epist. (Arb.), 19. Who abuseth the high commission, as much as any?
1642. Milton, Apol. Smect. (1851), 291. The illegall proceedings of the high Commission.
1647. Clarendon, Hist. Reb., I. (1843), 38/1. Persons of honour and great quality … were every day cited into the high-commission court … and were there prosecuted to their shame and punishment.
1655. Fuller, Ch. Hist., IX. vi. § 51. The power of the high Commission began now to extend far, and penalties to fall heavie.
1768. Blackstone, Comm., III. 67.
1827. Hallam, Const. Hist. (1876), I. iv. 186.
8. The action of committing or giving in charge; the entrusting of (authority, etc., to any one).
1883. Manch. Guardian, 17 Oct., 5/3. The commission of the licensing power to Town Councils and County Boards.
9. A charge or matter entrusted to any one to perform; an order to execute a particular work.
1570. G. Buchanan, Chamæleon, in Hist. Scot. (1827), I. Pref. 92. He did his commissioun sa weill.
1696. trans. Dumont’s Voy. Levant, xxvi. 351. Those who undertake such a commission.
1717. Lady M. W. Montague, Lett., II. xliv. 26. You have at length found a commission for me that I can answer without disappointing your expectations.
1793. Ld. Auckland, Corr. (1862), III. 31. [He] undertook at my request to go to Brussels on a commission to the Comte de Mercy.
1853. Dickens, Lett. (1880), I. 314. If I can execute any little commission for you.
1862. Trollope, Orley F., lxxiii. It was indeed a terrible commission … to undertake.
10. Authority given to act as agent or factor for another in the conduct of business or trade; the system of trading in which a dealer acts as agent for another, generally receiving a percentage as his remuneration. Hence to have goods on commission.
1622. Malynes, Anc. Law-Merch., 109. When Merchants by their Letters or Commissions vse these or the like words.
1745. De Foe’s Eng. Tradesman (1841), I. Introd. 3. Sold by commission from the makers.
1774–82. Barclay, Dict., Commission … in Trade it sometimes means the power of acting for another, and sometimes the premium or reward a person receives for so doing, which is 1/2, 1, 2, 3 or more per cent. according to the nature or circumstances of the affair.
1796. [see Commission-man in 13].
1887. Pall Mall G., 3 March, 11/2. The method of publication on commission, by which the publisher professed simply to charge 15 per cent. on all sales.
11. A remuneration for services or work done as agent, in the form of a percentage on the amount involved in the transactions; a pro rata remuneration to an agent or factor.
1725. De Foe, Voy. round World (1840), 20. The merchants had their several commissions and other profits upon the sale.
1774. [see 10].
1832. Babbage, Econ. Manuf., xxxi. (ed. 3), 326. He must also pay a commission, usually five per cent., to his London agent.
12. The committing (of crime, offense, etc.).
1597. Howson, Serm., 24 Dec., 40. We haue auoided all sinnes of omission and commission.
1660. R. Coke, Power & Subj., 127. The commission of anything against the laws is a sin of injustice.
1743. Fielding, Jon. Wild, III. iii. In the commission of murder.
1824–9. Landor, Imag. Conv., (1846), II. 43. There are very few men … who delight in the commission of cruelty.
1885. Law Times, LXXX. 116/1. Charged with the commission of offences in foreign countries.
b. An act (offense, crime) committed; a performance.
1659. Hammond, On Ps. li. 14, Paraphr. 263. Deliver me from this one, as from those other foul Commissions.
1826. Beddoes, Lett., in Poems, p. lix. A new edition of his rhymed and prosy commissions.
13. Comb. commission-agent, † -man, -merchant, an agent, etc., who transacts business for others on the principle of commission or percentage; so commission-business; commission-broker, an agent for the sale or purchase of commissions in the army or navy; commission-day, the opening day of assizes, when the commission authorizing the judge to hold them is opened and read; † commission-officer, an officer (generally military) holding office by a commission, a commissioned officer; commission-word, a word that serves as a commission or warrant.
1751. Smollett, Per. Pic. (1779), IV. xcvii. 226. Money to satisfy the expectations of the *commission-brokers.
1769. Junius Lett., ii. (1804), I. 19. The dignity of the commander in chief, is depraved into the base office of a commission-broker.
1753. Hanway, Travels (1762), II. I. iii. 17. A great part of this branch of *commission-business is … fallen into the hands of the merchants.
1883. M. D. Osbaldeston, in Law Times, 20 Oct., 411/2. No assize business is ever, as a rule, commenced on the *commission-day.
1796. Hull Advert., 16 Jan., 1/1. I. Burnett, Grocer and *Commission Man … will be glad to sell on Commission for any Merchant.
1650. Cromwell, Lett. & Sp. (Carlyle, 1871), III. 45. Not one *Commission-officer slain.
1679. Oates, Narr. Popish Plot, 43. They had procured several Irish to be made Commission-Officers in the Garrisons in Ireland.
1708. Royal Proclam., 30 Dec., in Lond. Gaz., No. 4504/2. All Justices of the Peace, Chief Magistrates, Vice-Admirals, and other Commission-Officers.
a. 1845. Hood, Two Swans, v. Freedom’s sweet key-note and *commission-word.
