Commissioned

How to spell commissioned

12 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce commissioned

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does commissioned mean?

1. verbFormally ordered, authorised, or engaged the creation of a work or the provision of a service.
2. adjectiveHolding a formal rank and authority granted by a warrant, as a military officer.

Commissioned in a sentence

• verb

  The council commissioned a mural for the new library wall.

• adjective

  A commissioned officer signed the orders before the unit deployed.

• verb

  The gallery commissioned three local artists to produce original pieces.

• adjective

  She became a commissioned officer after completing her training.

Where does commissioned come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb committere, formed from com- meaning 'together' and mittere meaning 'to send' or 'to put'. The related noun commissio originally meant a 'joining together' or 'an act of committing', and over time it came to mean a formal charge or authority handed to someone to act on another's behalf. English took the noun 'commission' from Old French in the 1300s, and the verb sense, 'to give a formal order or authority', followed soon after. The participle 'commissioned' became especially associated with military officers who held a formal warrant from the crown, and with artists or builders formally engaged to produce a work. The doubled letters are the spelling trap here: the 'mm' comes from com- meeting the m of miss, and the 'ss' plus -ion give the soft 'sh' sound, so writers must remember both pairs.

How the word is built

• com- (together)
• miss (from Latin mittere, to send)
• -ion (act/state)
• -ed (past tense/participle)