Commiserative Com·mis"er·a·tive adjective Feeling or expressing commiseration. Todd.

Commiserator Com·mis"er·a`tor noun One who pities.

Commissarial Com`mis·sa"ri·al adjective Of or pertaining to a commissary.

Commissariat Com`mis·sa"ri·at noun [ French commissariat .] (Mil.) (a) The organized system by which armies and military posts are supplied with food and daily necessaries. (b) The body of officers charged with such service.

Commissary Com"mis·sa·ry noun ; plural Commissaries . [ Late Latin commissarius , from Latin commissus , past participle 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.

Commissaryship Com"mis·sa·ry·ship noun The office or employment of a commissary. Ayliffe.

Commission Com·mis"sion noun [ French, from Latin 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 (Nautical) , 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 (Nautical) , to detach the officers and crew and retire it from active service, temporarily or permanently. -- To put the 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 coöperate with and supplement the medical department of the Union armies during the Civil War.

Syn. -- Charge; warrant; authority; mandate; office; trust; employment.

Commission Com·mis"sion transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Commissioned ; p. pr & verbal noun 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 officer.

2. To send out with a charge or commission.

A chosen band
He first commissions to the Latian land.
Dryden.

Syn. -- To appoint; depute; authorize; empower; delegate; constitute; ordain.

Commissionaire Com·mis`sion·aire" noun [ French commissionnaire . Confer Commissioner .] 1. One intrusted with a commission, now only a small commission, as an errand; esp., an attendant or subordinate employee in a public office, hotel, or the like. The commissionaire familiar to European travelers performs miscellaneous services as a light porter, messenger, solicitor for hotels, etc.

2. One of a corps of pensioned soldiers, as in London, employed as doorkeepers, messengers, etc.

Commissional, Commissionary Com·mis"sion·al, Com·mis"sion·a·ry adjective Of, pertaining to, or conferring, a commission; conferred by a commission or warrant. [ R.]

Delegate or commissionary authority.
Bp. Hall.

Commissionate Com·mis"sion·ate transitive verb To commission [ Obsolete]

Commissioner Com·mis"sion·er noun 1. A person who has a commission or warrant to perform some office, or execute some business, for the government, corporation, or person employing him; as, a commissioner to take affidavits or to adjust claims.

To another address which requested that a commission might be sent to examine into the state of things in Ireland, William returned a gracious answer, and desired the Commons to name the commissioners .
Macaulay.

2. An officer having charge of some department or bureau of the public service.

Herbert was first commissioner of the Admiralty.
Macaulay.

The commissioner of patents, the commissioner of the land office, the commissioner of Indian affairs, are subordinates of the secretary of the interior.
Bartlett.

Commissioner of deeds , an officer having authority to take affidavits, depositions, acknowledgment of deeds, etc., for use in the State by which he is appointed. [ U. S.] -- County commissioners , certain administrative officers in some of the States, invested by local laws with various powers in reference to the roads, courthouses, financial matters, etc., of the county. [ U. S.]

Commissionnaire Com·mis`sion·naire" noun [ French, from Latin commissio .] 1. An agent or factor; a commission merchant.

2. One of a class of attendants, in some European cities, who perform miscellaneous services for travelers.

Commissionship Com·mis"sion·ship noun The office of commissioner. Sir W. Scott.

Commissive Com·mis"sive adjective Relating to commission; of the nature of, or involving, commission. [ R.]

Commissural Com·mis"su·ral adjective Of or pertaining to a commissure.

Commissure Com·mis"sure noun [ Latin commissura a joining together: confer French commissure . See Commit .] 1. A joint, seam, or closure; the place where two bodies, or parts of a body, meet and unite; an interstice, cleft, or juncture.

2. (Anat. & Zoology) (a) The point of union between two parts, as the angles of the lips or eyelids, the mandibles of a bird, etc. (b) A collection of fibers connecting parts of the brain or spinal marrow; a chiasma.

3. (Botany) The line of junction or cohering face of two carpels, as in the parsnip, caraway, etc.

Commit Com·mit" transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Committed ; present participle & verbal noun Committing .] [ Latin committere , commissum , to connect, commit; com- + mittere to send. See Mission .] 1. To give in trust; to put into charge or keeping; to intrust; to consign; -- used with to , unto .

Commit thy way unto the Lord.
Ps. xxxvii. 5.

Bid him farewell, commit him to the grave.
Shak.

2. To put in charge of a jailor; to imprison.

These two were committed .
Clarendon.

3. To do; to perpetrate, as a crime, sin, or fault.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Ex. xx. 14.

4. To join for a contest; to match; -- followed by with . [ R.] Dr. H. More.

5. To pledge or bind; to compromise, expose, or endanger by some decisive act or preliminary step; -- often used reflexively; as, to commit one's self to a certain course.

You might have satisfied every duty of political friendship, without commiting the honor of your sovereign.
Junius.

Any sudden assent to the proposal . . . might possibly be considered as committing the faith of the United States.
Marshall.

6. To confound. [ An obsolete Latinism.]

Committing short and long [ quantities].
Milton.

To commit a bill (Legislation) , to refer or intrust it to a committee or others, to be considered and reported. -- To commit to memory , or To commit , to learn by heart; to memorize.

Syn. -- To Commit , Intrust , Consign . These words have in common the idea of transferring from one's self to the care and custody of another. Commit is the widest term, and may express only the general idea of delivering into the charge of another; as, to commit a lawsuit to the care of an attorney; or it may have the special sense of intrusting with or without limitations, as to a superior power, or to a careful servant, or of consigning, as to writing or paper, to the flames, or to prison. To intrust denotes the act of committing to the exercise of confidence or trust; as, to intrust a friend with the care of a child, or with a secret. To consign is a more formal act, and regards the thing transferred as placed chiefly or wholly out of one's immediate control; as, to consign a pupil to the charge of his instructor; to consign goods to an agent for sale; to consign a work to the press.

Commit Com"mit intransitive verb To sin; esp., to be incontinent. [ Obsolete]

Commit not with man's sworn spouse.
Shak.

Commitment Com·mit"ment noun 1. The act of committing, or putting in charge, keeping, or trust; consignment; esp., the act of committing to prison.

They were glad to compound for his bare commitment to the Tower, whence he was within few days enlarged.
Clarendon.

2. A warrant or order for the imprisonment of a person; -- more frequently termed a mittimus .

3. The act of referring or intrusting to a committee for consideration and report; as, the commitment of a petition or a bill.

4. A doing, or perpetration, in a bad sense, as of a crime or blunder; commission.

5. The act of pledging or engaging; the act of exposing, endangering, or compromising; also, the state of being pledged or engaged. Hamilton.

Committable Com·mit"ta·ble adjective Capable of being committed.

Committal Com·mit"tal noun The act of committing, or the state of being committed; commitment.

Committee Com·mit"tee noun [ Confer Old French comité company, and Late Latin comitatus jurisdiction or territory of a count, county, assize, army. The word was apparently influenced by the verb commit , but not directly formed from it. Confer County .] One or more persons elected or appointed, to whom any matter or business is referred, either by a legislative body, or by a court, or by any collective body of men acting together.

Committee of the whole [ house] , a committee, embracing all the members present, into which a legislative or deliberative body sometimes resolves itself, for the purpose of considering a particular measure under the operation of different rules from those governing the general legislative proceedings. The committee of the whole has its own chairman, and reports its action in the form of recommendations. -- Standing committee . See under Standing .

Committee Com`mit·tee" noun [ From Commit , transitive verb ] (Law) One to whom the charge of the person or estate of another, as of a lunatic, is committed by suitable authority; a guardian.

Committeeman Com·mit"tee·man noun A member of a committee.

Committer Com·mit"ter noun 1. One who commits; one who does or perpetrates. South.

2. A fornicator. [ Obsolete] T. Decker.

Committible Com·mit"ti·ble adjective Capable of being committed; liable to be committed. [ R.] Sir T. Browne.

Commix Com·mix" transitive verb & i. [ imperfect & past participle Commixed ; present participle & verbal noun Commixing .] [ Prefix com- + mix : confer Latin commixtus , past participle of commiscere . See Mix .] To mix or mingle together; to blend.

The commixed impressions of all the colors do stir up and beget a sensation of white.
Sir I. Newton.

To commix
With winds that sailors rail at.
Shak.

Commixion Com·mix"ion noun [ See Commix .] Commixture. Shak.

Commixtion Com·mix"tion noun [ Latin commixtio .] Commixture; mingling. [ R.]

An exact commixtion of the ingredients.
Boyle.

Commixture Com·mix"ture noun [ Latin commixtura .] 1. The act or process of mixing; the state of being mingled; the blending of ingredients in one mass or compound.

In the commixture of anything that is more oily or sweet, such bodies are least apt to putrefy.
Bacon.

2. The mass formed by mingling different things; a compound; a mixture. Bacon.

Commodate Com"mo·date noun [ Latin commodatum thing lent, loan.] (Scots Law) A gratuitous loan.

Commode Com·mode" noun [ French commode , from commode convenient, Latin commodus ; com- + modus measure, mode. See Mode .] 1. A kind of headdress formerly worn by ladies, raising the hair and fore part of the cap to a great height.

Or under high commodes , with looks erect.
Granville.

2. A piece of furniture, so named according to temporary fashion ; as: (a) A chest of drawers or a bureau. (b) A night stand with a compartment for holding a chamber vessel. (c) A kind of close stool. (d) A movable sink or stand for a wash bowl, with closet.

Commodious Com·mo"di·ous adjective [ Late Latin commodiosus , from Latin commodum convenience, from commodus . See Commode .] Adapted to its use or purpose, or to wants and necessities; serviceable; spacious and convenient; roomy and comfortable; as, a commodious house. "A commodious drab." Shak. " Commodious gold." Pope.

The haven was not commodious to winter in.
Acts xxvii. 12.

Syn. -- Convenient; suitable; fit; proper; advantageous; serviceable; useful; spacious; comfortable.

Commodiously Com·mo"di·ous·ly adverb In a commodious manner.

To pass commodiously this life.
Milton.

Commodiousness Com·mo"di·ous·ness noun State of being commodious; suitableness for its purpose; convenience; roominess.

Of cities, the greatness and riches increase according to the commodiousness of their situation.
Sir W. Temple.

The commodiousness of the harbor.
Johnson.

Commodity Com·mod"i·ty noun ; plural Commodities . [ French commodité , from Latin commoditas . See Commode .] 1. Convenience; accommodation; profit; benefit; advantage; interest; commodiousness. [ Obsolete]

Drawn by the commodity of a footpath.
B. Jonson.

Men may seek their own commodity , yet if this were done with injury to others, it was not to be suffered.
Hooker.

2. That which affords convenience, advantage, or profit, especially in commerce, including everything movable that is bought and sold (except animals), -- goods, wares, merchandise, produce of land and manufactures, etc.

3. A parcel or quantity of goods. [ Obsolete]

A commodity of brown paper and old ginger.
Shak.

Commodore Com"mo·dore` noun [ Prob. a corruption of commander , or Spanish comendador a knight of a military order who holds a commandery; also a superior of a monastery, from Late Latin commendare to command. Confer Commend , Command , Commander .] 1. (U. S. Navy) An officer who ranks next above a captain; sometimes, by courtesy, the senior captain of a squadron. The rank of commodore corresponds with that of brigadier general in the army.

2. (British Navy) A captain commanding a squadron, or a division of a fleet, or having the temporary rank of rear admiral.

3. A title given by courtesy to the senior captain of a line of merchant vessels, and also to the chief officer of a yachting or rowing club.

4. A familiar for the flagship, or for the principal vessel of a squadron or fleet.

Common Com"mon adjective [ Compar. Commoner ; superl. Commonest .] [ Middle English commun , comon , Old French comun , French commun , from Latin communis ; com- + munis ready to be of service; confer Sanskrit mi to make fast, set up, build, Goth. gamains common, German gemein , and English mean low, common. Confer Immunity , Commune , noun & v. ] 1. Belonging or relating equally, or similarly, to more than one; as, you and I have a common interest in the property.

Though life and sense be common to men and brutes.
Sir M. Hale.

2. Belonging to or shared by, affecting or serving, all the members of a class, considered together; general; public; as, properties common to all plants; the common schools; the Book of Common Prayer.

Such actions as the common good requireth.
Hooker.

The common enemy of man.
Shak.

3. Often met with; usual; frequent; customary.

Grief more than common grief.
Shak.

4. Not distinguished or exceptional; inconspicuous; ordinary; plebeian; -- often in a depreciatory sense.

The honest, heart-felt enjoyment of common life.
W. Irving.

This fact was infamous
And ill beseeming any common man,
Much more a knight, a captain and a leader.
Shak.

Above the vulgar flight of common souls.
A. Murphy.

5. Profane; polluted. [ Obsolete]

What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common .
Acts x. 15.

6. Given to habits of lewdness; prostitute.

A dame who herself was common .
L'Estrange.

Common bar (Law) Same as Blank bar , under Blank . -- Common barrator (Law) , one who makes a business of instigating litigation. -- Common Bench , a name sometimes given to the English Court of Common Pleas. -- Common brawler (Law) , one addicted to public brawling and quarreling. See Brawler . -- Common carrier (Law) , one who undertakes the office of carrying (goods or persons) for hire. Such a carrier is bound to carry in all cases when he has accommodation, and when his fixed price is tendered, and he is liable for all losses and injuries to the goods, except those which happen in consequence of the act of God, or of the enemies of the country, or of the owner of the property himself. -- Common chord (Mus.) , a chord consisting of the fundamental tone, with its third and fifth. -- Common council , the representative (legislative) body, or the lower branch of the representative body, of a city or other municipal corporation. -- Common crier , the crier of a town or city. -- Common divisor (Math.) , a number or quantity that divides two or more numbers or quantities without a remainder; a common measure. -- Common gender (Gram.) , the gender comprising words that may be of either the masculine or the feminine gender. -- Common law , a system of jurisprudence developing under the guidance of the courts so as to apply a consistent and reasonable rule to each litigated case. It may be superseded by statute, but unless superseded it controls. Wharton. It is by others defined as the unwritten law (especially of England), the law that receives its binding force from immemorial usage and universal reception, as ascertained and expressed in the judgments of the courts. This term is often used in contradistinction from statute law . Many use it to designate a law common to the whole country. It is also used to designate the whole body of English (or other) law, as distinguished from its subdivisions, local, civil, admiralty, equity, etc. See Law . -- Common lawyer , one versed in common law. -- Common lewdness (Law) , the habitual performance of lewd acts in public. -- Common multiple (Arith.) See under Multiple . -- Common noun (Gram.) , the name of any one of a class of objects, as distinguished from a proper noun (the name of a particular person or thing). -- Common nuisance (Law) , that which is deleterious to the health or comfort or sense of decency of the community at large. -- Common pleas , one of the three superior courts of common law at Westminster, presided over by a chief justice and four puisne judges. Its jurisdiction is confined to civil matters. Courts bearing this title exist in several of the United States, having, however, in some cases, both civil and criminal jurisdiction extending over the whole State. In other States the jurisdiction of the common pleas is limited to a county, and it is sometimes called a county court . Its powers are generally defined by statute. -- Common prayer , the liturgy of the Church of England, or of the Protestant Episcopal church of the United States, which all its clergy are enjoined to use. It is contained in the Book of Common Prayer. -- Common school , a school maintained at the public expense, and open to all. -- Common scold (Law) , a woman addicted to scolding indiscriminately, in public. -- Common seal , a seal adopted and used by a corporation. -- Common sense . (a) A supposed sense which was held to be the common bond of all the others. [ Obsolete] Trench. (b) Sound judgment. See under Sense . -- Common time (Mus.) , that variety of time in which the measure consists of two or of four equal portions. -- In common , equally with another, or with others; owned, shared, or used, in community with others; affecting or affected equally. -- Out of the common , uncommon; extraordinary. -- Tenant in common , one holding real or personal property in common with others, having distinct but undivided interests. See Joint tenant , under Joint . -- To make common cause with , to join or ally one's self with.

Syn. -- General; public; popular; national; universal; frequent; ordinary; customary; usual; familiar; habitual; vulgar; mean; trite; stale; threadbare; commonplace. See Mutual , Ordinary , General .

Common Com"mon noun 1. The people; the community. [ Obsolete] "The weal o' the common ." Shak.

2. An inclosed or uninclosed tract of ground for pleasure, for pasturage, etc., the use of which belongs to the public; or to a number of persons.

3. (Law) The right of taking a profit in the land of another, in common either with the owner or with other persons; -- so called from the community of interest which arises between the claimant of the right and the owner of the soil, or between the claimants and other commoners entitled to the same right.

Common appendant , a right belonging to the owners or occupiers of arable land to put commonable beasts upon the waste land in the manor where they dwell. -- Common appurtenant , a similar right applying to lands in other manors, or extending to other beasts, besides those which are generally commonable, as hogs. -- Common because of vicinage or neighborhood , the right of the inhabitants of each of two townships, lying contiguous to each other, which have usually intercommoned with one another, to let their beasts stray into the other's fields. - - Common in gross or at large , a common annexed to a man's person, being granted to him and his heirs by deed; or it may be claimed by prescriptive right, as by a parson of a church or other corporation sole. Blackstone. -- Common of estovers , the right of taking wood from another's estate. -- Common of pasture , the right of feeding beasts on the land of another. Burill. -- Common of piscary , the right of fishing in waters belonging to another. -- Common of turbary , the right of digging turf upon the ground of another.

Common Com"mon intransitive verb 1. To converse together; to discourse; to confer. [ Obsolete]

Embassadors were sent upon both parts, and divers means of entreaty were commoned of.
Grafton.

2. To participate. [ Obsolete] Sir T. More.

3. To have a joint right with others in common ground. Johnson.

4. To board together; to eat at a table in common.

Common sense Com"mon sense" See Common sense , under Sense .

Commonable Com"mon·a·ble adjective 1. Held in common. "Forests . . . and other commonable places." Bacon.

2. Allowed to pasture on public commons.

Commonable beasts are either beasts of the plow, or such as manure the ground.
Blackstone.

Commonage Com"mon·age noun [ Confer Old French communage .] The right of pasturing on a common; the right of using anything in common with others.

The claim of commonage . . . in most of the forests.
Burke.

Commonalty Com"mon·al·ty noun ; plural Commonalties . [ Old French communalté ; French communauté , from communal . See Communal .] 1. The common people; those classes and conditions of people who are below the rank of nobility; the commons.

The commonalty , like the nobility, are divided into several degrees.
Blackstone.

The ancient fare of our kings differed from that of the commonalty in plenteousness only.
Landon.

2. The majority or bulk of mankind. [ Obsolete] Hooker.

Commoner Com"mon·er noun 1. One of the common people; one having no rank of nobility.

All below them [ the peers] even their children, were commoners , and in the eye of the law equal to each other.
Hallam.

2. A member of the House of Commons.

3. One who has a joint right in common ground.

Much good land might be gained from forests . . . and from other commonable places, so as always there be a due care taken that the poor commoners have no injury.
Bacon.

4. One sharing with another in anything. [ Obsolete] Fuller.

5. A student in the university of Oxford, Eng., who is not dependent on any foundation for support, but pays all university charges; - - at Cambridge called a pensioner .

6. A prostitute. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Commonish Com"mon·ish adjective Somewhat common; commonplace; vulgar.

Commonition Com`mo·ni"tion noun [ Latin commonitio . See Monition .] Advice; warning; instruction. [ Obsolete] Bailey.

Commonitive Com·mon"i·tive adjective Monitory. [ Obsolete]

Only commemorative and commonitive .
Bp. Hall.

Commonitory Com·mon"i·to·ry adjective [ Latin commonitorius .] Calling to mind; giving admonition. [ Obsolete] Foxe.

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