commission

American  

[kuh-mish-uhn] / kəˈmɪʃ ən /

noun

• commissions
  plural

1. 

   the act of committing or entrusting a person, group, etc., with supervisory power or authority.

2. an authoritative order, charge, or direction.

3. authority granted for a particular action or function.

4. a document granting such authority.

5. a document conferring authority issued by the president of the U.S. to officers in the Army, Navy, and other military services, and by state governments to justices of the peace and others.

6. the power thus granted.

7. the position or rank of an officer in any of the armed forces.

8. a group of persons authoritatively charged with particular functions.

   a parks commission.

9. the condition of being placed under special authoritative responsibility or charge.

10. a task or matter committed to one's charge; official assignment.

    The architect received a commission to design an office building.

11. the act of committing or perpetrating a crime, error, etc..

    The commission of a misdemeanor is punishable by law.

12. something that is committed.

    He was held accountable for his evil commissions.

13. authority to act as agent for another or others in commercial transactions.

14. a sum or percentage of what has been paid that is allowed to agents, sales representatives, etc., for their services.

    In addition to her salary, she will get a 20 percent commission for each sale she makes.

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verb (used with object)

• commissions,
  present (3rd person singular)
• commissioned,
  past participle,  past
• commissioning
  present participle

1. to give a commission to.

   to commission a new graduate of a military academy with the rank of lieutenant.

2. to authorize; send on a mission.

   I've been commissioned by my friend overseas to find him a cheap apartment in New York.

3. to give the order that places a warship, military command, etc., in a state of complete readiness for active duty.

4. to give a commission or order for.

   The owners commissioned a painting for the building's lobby.

idioms

1. in commission,

   1. in service.

   2. in operating order.

      A great deal of work will be necessary to put this car in commission again.

   3. Navy. Also into commission. (of a ship) manned and in condition for or ordered to active service.

2. out of commission,

   1. not in service.

      Telephone lines were out of commission for several days after the storm.

   2. not in operating order.

      Sorry, but I can't bake cupcakes for you while the stove is out of commission.

3. on commission, paid entirely or partially with commissions from sales one has made or for work one has done.

   The salespeople who are on commission earn 6 percent of the total amount they sell.

commission British  

/ kəˈmɪʃən /

noun

1. a duty or task committed to a person or group to perform

2. authority to undertake or perform certain duties or functions

3. a document granting such authority

4. military

   1. a document conferring a rank on an officer

   2. the rank or authority thereby granted

5. a group of people charged with certain duties

   a commission of inquiry

6. a government agency or board empowered to exercise administrative, judicial, or legislative authority See also Royal Commission

7. 1. the authority given to a person or organization to act as an agent to a principal in commercial transactions

   2. the fee allotted to an agent for services rendered

8. the state of being charged with specific duties or responsibilities

9. the act of committing a sin, crime, etc

10. something, esp a sin, crime, etc, that is committed

11. good working condition or (esp of a ship) active service (esp in the phrases in or into commission, out of commission )

12. the head of a department of municipal government

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verb

1. (tr) to grant authority to; charge with a duty or task

2. (tr) military to confer a rank on or authorize an action by

3. (tr) to equip and test (a ship) for active service

4. to make or become operative or operable

   the plant is due to commission next year

5. (tr) to place an order for (something)

   to commission a portrait

commission Cultural  

1. A fee paid to a broker or other financial agent for negotiating a sale. The fee is based on a percentage of the sale price.

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commission More Idioms  

1. see in commission; on commission; out of commission.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intercommission
  noun
• recommission
  noun
• subcommission
  noun
• commissionable
  adjective
• commissional
  adjective
• commissive
  adjective
• uncommissioned
  adjective
• commissively
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• commissions
  plural

Participles

• commissioning
  present
• commissioned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• commission
  simple
• commissions
  simple
• have commissioned
  perfect
• has commissioned
  perfect
• am commissioning
  progressive
• are commissioning
  progressive
• is commissioning
  progressive
• have been commissioning
  perfect progressive
• has been commissioning
  perfect progressive

Past

• commissioned
  simple
• had commissioned
  perfect
• was commissioning
  progressive
• were commissioning
  progressive
• had been commissioning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will commission
  simple
• will have commissioned
  perfect
• will be commissioning
  progressive
• will have been commissioning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of commission

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin commissiōn-, stem of commissiō “commencement”; equivalent to com- + mission

Explanation

The word commission has several very different meanings, but in its most basic meaning, commission is the act of passing a responsibility to someone else. If you receive a government commission, that means you have been assigned a task by the government. Another common meaning of commission is the amount of money an employee earns when they sell something: In addition to his salary, he gets a 1% commission on each sale. A commission is also an order for someone to do something and get paid: The artist received a commission for a new painting to hang in the building lobby. And a commission is a high-ranking position in the armed forces, or a special committee that controls or investigates something.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

commission commissions commissioned commissioning

Fitzsimmons was an early entrant to predictions, serving as a futures commission merchant, or intermediary, for traders looking to connect to bigger exchanges such as CME Group and Crypto.com, which offer the trades.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

Last Friday, the commission decided that the march could go ahead with restrictions in place.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

On Tuesday, it was confirmed that City had been found guilty by an independent commission of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League's financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

An independent commission delivered its findings on the Abu Dhabi-backed club earlier this week and City had until Friday to appeal.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

In Rome, Leonardo’s commission does not go well: before starting, he decides he needs to perfect the varnish—the thing he’ll need after he’s finished painting.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

“The monetization path for Muse, including ads, subscriptions and commissions, seems unlikely to be material before 2028,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026

Together, Gail and Dave Liniger popularized an unorthodox business model, in which agents kept 100% of commissions in exchange for paying a fee to Remax for advertising and other management costs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

Instead, the Tribune tracked the grants by reviewing the vehicle authority’s meeting records, as well as documents, agendas and discussions from 101 city councils and county commissions that approved or discussed Flock-related grants.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

Invitations to the Bass event featured the names of every CAL board member, including three who sit on city boards or commissions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

He can’t get commissions, and when he does, he can’t finish them.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

The government commissioned a review into his death in August, to identify lessons to be learned and recommend steps to minimise the risk of future tragedies.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

An investigation commissioned by Gov. Gavin Newsom found the Fire Department ignored multiple warnings that the Jan. 1 Lachman fire still was smoldering days before it exploded into the Palisades fire.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

Following the burglary, Paul has joined forces with Compare the Market, which commissioned a licensed private investigator to examine the publicly available digital footprints of nine volunteers.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

She was the point of the painting, as if she or someone powerful had commissioned it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

Several years back, he had been commissioned to sculpt the statues for the new National Cathedral, but the dedication had taken place in an empty church.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

Renfrewshire Council said it was now commissioning an independent learning review into the case.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

In its lawsuit filed Sept. 10 against Altus Power and subcontractor Pearce Services, Lineage claims Altus sought to re-energize the solar array to complete testing and commissioning around June 23, 2025.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

The commissioning programme was started by the RSA in 1998 and the first work, Mark Wallinger's Ecce Homo, went up the following year.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

For the remainder of its three-month commissioning period, scientists and engineers will carefully test and calibrate Roman's instruments.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026

Leonardo is now in Rome, where a new pope from the Medici family—Pope Leo X—is busy bankrupting the Vatican by commissioning massive new works of art.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

Related Words

• agency
• authority
• delegation
• office