to consign for preservation: to commit ideas to writing; to commit a poem to memory.
3.
to pledge (oneself) to a position on an issue or question; express (one's intention, feeling, etc.): Asked if he was a candidate, he refused to commit himself.
4.
to bind or obligate, as by pledge or assurance; pledge: to commit oneself to a promise; to be committed to a course of action.
5.
to entrust, esp. for safekeeping; commend: to commit one's soul to God.
6.
to do; perform; perpetrate: to commit murder; to commit an error.
7.
to consign to custody: to commit a delinquent to a reformatory.
8.
to place in a mental institution or hospital by or as if by legal authority: He was committed on the certificate of two psychiatrists.
9.
to deliver for treatment, disposal, etc.; relegate: to commit a manuscript to the flames.
10.
to send into a battle: The commander has committed all his troops to the front lines.
11.
Parliamentary Procedure. to refer (a bill or the like) to a committee for consideration.
–verb (used without object)
12.
to pledge or engage oneself: an athlete who commits to the highest standards.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME committen (< AF committer) < L committere, equiv. to com-com-+ mittere to send, give over]
To put in trust or charge; entrust: commit oneself to the care of a doctor; commit responsibilities to an assistant.
To place officially in confinement or custody, as in a mental health facility.
To consign for future use or reference or for preservation: commit the secret code to memory.
To put into a place to be kept safe or to be disposed of.
To make known the views of (oneself) on an issue: I never commit myself on such issues.
To bind or obligate, as by a pledge: They were committed to follow orders.
To refer (a legislative bill, for example) to a committee.
v.
intr.
To pledge or obligate one's own self: felt that he was too young to commit fully to marriage.
[Middle English committen, from Latin committere : com-, com- + mittere, to send.]
com·mit'ta·ble adj.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to give over to another for a purpose such as care or safekeeping. Commit has the widest application: The troops were committed to the general's charge. I committed the sonata to memory. The patient was committed to the hospital.
To consign is to transfer to another's custody or charge: The owner consigned the paintings to a dealer for sale. Entrust and confide stress trust in another: The task was too dangerous to be entrusted to a child. She confided her plans to her family.
To relegate is to assign to a specific and especially an inferior category or position: Some scientists relegate parapsychology to the sphere of quackery.
c.1390, from L. committere "to bring together," from com- "together" + mittere "to put, send" (see mission). Evolution into modern range of meanings is not entirely clear. Sense of "perpetrating" was ancient in L. Intransitive use (in place of commit oneself) first recorded 1982, probably influenced by existentialism use (1948) of commitment to translate Sartre's engagement "to emotionally and morally engage."
perform an act, usually with a negative connotation; "perpetrate a crime"; "pull a bank robbery" [syn: perpetrate]
2.
give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause; "She committed herself to the work of God"; "give one's talents to a good cause"; "consecrate your life to the church" [syn: give]
3.
cause to be admitted; of persons to an institution; "After the second episode, she had to be committed"; "he was committed to prison"
4.
confer a trust upon; "The messenger was entrusted with the general's secret"; "I commit my soul to God" [syn: entrust]
5.
make an investment; "Put money into bonds" [syn: invest] [ant: disinvest]
6.
engage in or perform; "practice safe sex"; "commit a random act of kindness"
Main Entry: com·mit Pronunciation: k&-'mit Function: transitive verb Inflected Forms: com·mit·ted;
com·mit·ting : to place in a prison or mental institution <a patient committed by the court to a state hospital>
—com·mit·ta·ble/-'mit-&-b&l/adjective
Main Entry: com·mit Function: verb Inflected Forms: com·mit·ted; com·mit·ting transitive verb 1 a: to put into
another's charge or trust :ENTRUST, CONSIGN
<committed her children to her sister's care> b: to place in a prison or mental hospital esp. by judicial order <was found to be gravely disabled and was involuntarily
committed to the Central Louisiana State Hospital —In the Matter of K.G., 531 So. Second 575 (1988)> —compare INSTITUTIONALIZE, INTERDICTc: to send (as a legislative bill) to a committee for
consideration and report <commit the crime bill to the joint committee> 2: to carry into action deliberately :PERPETRATE <to define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas —U.S. Constitution
article I> 3:OBLIGATE, BIND
intransitive verb : to obligate or bind oneself <would not commit to the irrevocable order>
Com"mis*sa*ry\, n.; pl. Commissaries. [LL. commissarius, fr. L. commissus, p. p. of committere to commit, intrust to. See Commit.]1. One to whom is committed some charge, duty, or office, by a superior power; a commissioner. Great Destiny, the Commissary of God. --Donne. 2. (Eccl.) An officer of the bishop, who exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction in parts of the diocese at a distance from the residence of the bishop. --Ayliffe. 3. (Mil.) (a) An officer having charge of a special service; as, the commissary of musters. (b) An officer whose business is to provide food for a body of troops or a military post; -- officially called commissary of subsistence. [U. S.] Washington wrote to the President of Congress . . . urging the appointment of a commissary general, a quartermaster general, a commissary of musters, and a commissary of artillery. --W. Irving Commissary general, an officer in charge of some special department of army service; as: (a) The officer in charge of the commissariat and transport department, or of the ordnance store department. [Eng.] (b) The commissary general of subsistence. [U. S.] Commissary general of subsistence (Mil. U. S.), the head of the subsistence department, who has charge of the purchase and issue of provisions for the army.
Com*mis"sion\, n. [F., fr. L. commissio. See Commit.]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. --Shak. 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 commission of ten per cent on sales. See Del credere. Commission of array. (Eng. Hist.) See under Array. Commission of bankruptcy, a commission appointing and empowering certain persons to examine into the facts relative to an alleged bankruptcy, and to secure the bankrupt's lands and effects for the creditors. Commission of lunacy, a commission authorizing an inquiry whether a person is a lunatic or not. Commission merchant, one who buys or sells goods on commission, as the agent of others, receiving a rate per cent as his compensation. Commission, or Commissioned, officer (Mil.), one who has a commission, in distinction from a noncommissioned or warrant officer. Commission of the peace, a commission under the great seal, constituting one or more persons justices of the peace. [Eng.] To put a vessel into commission (Naut.), to equip and man a government vessel, and send it out on service after it has been laid up; esp., the formal act of taking command of a vessel for service, hoisting the flag, reading the orders, etc. To put a vessel out of commission (Naut.), to detach the officers and crew and retire it from active service, temporarily or permanently. To putthe great seal, or the Treasury, into commission, to place it in the hands of a commissioner or commissioners during the abeyance of the ordinary administration, as between the going out of one lord keeper and the accession of another. [Eng.] The United States Christian Commission, an organization among the people of the North, during the Civil War, which afforded material comforts to the Union soldiers, and performed services of a religious character in the field and in hospitals. The United States Sanitary Commission, an organization formed by the people of the North to co["o]perate with and supplement the medical department of the Union armies during the Civil War. Syn: Charge; warrant; authority; mandate; office; trust; employment.
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