Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Commission
1.
The act of committing, doing, or performing; the act of perpetrating.
Every
commission
of sin introduces into the soul a certain degree of hardness. South.
2.
The act of intrusting; a charge; instructions as to how a trust shall be executed.
3.
The duty or employment intrusted to any person or persons; a trust; a charge.
4.
A formal written warrant or authority, granting certain powers or privileges and authorizing or commanding the performance of certain duties.
Let him see our
commission
. Shakespeare
5.
A certificate conferring military or naval rank and authority;
as, a colonel’s
. commission
6.
A company of persons joined in the performance of some duty or the execution of some trust;
as, the interstate commerce
. commission
A
commission
was at once appointed to examine into the matter. Prescott.
7.
(Com.)
(a)
The acting under authority of, or on account of, another.
(b)
The thing to be done as agent for another;
as, I have three
. commissions
for the city(c)
The brokerage or allowance made to a factor or agent for transacting business for another;
as, a
. See commission
of ten per cent on salesDel credere
.
Syn. – Charge; warrant; authority; mandate; office; trust; employment.
Com-mis′sion
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Commissioned
; p. pr & vb. n.
Commissioning
.] 1.
To give a commission to; to furnish with a commission; to empower or authorize;
as, to
. commission
persons to perform certain acts; to commission
an officer2.
To send out with a charge or commission.
Webster 1828 Edition
Commission
COMMISSION
, n.1.
The act of committing, doing, performing, or perpetrating; as the commission of a crime.2.
The act of committing or sending to; the act of entrusting, as a charge or duty. Hence,3.
The thing committed, entrusted or delivered; letters patent, or any writing from proper authority, given to a person as his warrant for exercising certain powers, or the performance of any duty, whether civil, ecclesiastical, or military. Hence,4.
Charge; order; mandate; authority given.He bore his great commission in his look.
5.
By a metonymy, a number of persons joined in an office or trust.6.
The state of that which is entrusted, as the great seal was put into commission; or the state of being authorized to act or perform service, as a ship is put into commission.7.
In commerce, the state of acting under authority in the purchase and sale of goods for another. To trade or do business on commission, is to buy or sell for another by this authority. Hence,8.
The allowance made to a factor or commission-merchant for transacting business, which is a certain rate per cent. of the value of the goods bought or sold.Commission of bankruptcy, is a commission issuing from the Chancellor in Great Britain, and in other countries, from some proper authority, appointing and empowering certain persons to examine into the facts relative to an alleged bankruptcy, and to secure the bankrupts lands and effects for the creditors.
Commission of lunacy, is a commission issuing from the court of chancery, to authorize an inquiry whether a person is a lunatic or not.
Commission-officer, in the army or navy, is an officer who has a commission, in distinction from subaltern officers.