commission-merchant 
garden or dairy produce, etc., on commission. 
[U.S.] 
commissionship (ko-nrish'on-ship), . [< rom- 
inixHioiii + -#/a'p.j The holding of a commis- 
sion; a commissiouership. [Rare.] 
He got his comiitifttiiowthip in the ^reat contest f"i tin- 
county. Scott. 
commissive (ko-mis'iv), a. [< L. i-iiniin/xxiif. 
pp. (see commisxure, romiuit), + -ire.'] Com- 
mittin";. <'iil<-riili/e. [Kare.] 
commissura (kom-i-gu'rii), . ; pi. commissura; 
(-re). [L. : see commissure.'] Buna ai AMMte- 
sure. Commissure arcuata posterior, the coiuinU- 
sura basalis of Meynert. Commissura basalls of Mey- 
nert, a bundle of rather c.'arsr tiU-is ]>in^ al.M\r anil In-. 
hind the other portion* of the optic chiasma and optic 
tracts of the brain, anil passing on either side to the 
neighborhood of Lily's body. Also called MI'IHK />' ,-n,n 
miaiure. Commissure media, the middle 'or soft com- 
missure of the brain (which ee., under r'/m//n*>'/iv). 
commissural (ko-mis'u-ral), a. [= F. com- 
iiiix.iural, < lAj. MMMMMrmlf. < L. romnnxxura, 
commissure: see commissure.] Connective; be- 
longing to or forming part of a commissure, or 
a line or part by which other parts are con- 
nected. See cut under stin 
The several pairs of thoracic and abdominal ganglia are 
united by double flHMNfcMIMl cords. 
llujtle//, Anat. Invert., p. 368. 
Such connections [between corresponding ganglia] con- 
sist of what are called comiitisnurttt tiluvs. . . . The word 
commimitml is, Indeed, sometimes used in a wider sense, 
including fibres that unite ganglia of different grades. 
//. Silencer, Prin. of 1'sychol., f 11. 
commissure (kom'i-gur), .. [= P. commissure 
= Sp. comisura = Pg. commissura = It. commes- 
sura, a joint, commisura, symmetry, fitness, < L. 
commissura, a joint, seam, band, < commissus, pp. 
of eommittere, put together, join: see commit.] 
1. A joint, seam, suture, or closure; the place 
where two bodies or parts of a body meet or 
unite. Specifically (a) In anat. : (1) A suture of cranial 
bones. (2) The joining of the lips, eyelids, etc., at their 
angles. (3) See phrases below. (6) In ormtA.,the Hue of 
closure of the mandibles. See cut under bill. 
Commissure . . . means the point where the gape ends 
behind, that is, the angle of the mouth, . . . where the ap- 
posed edges of the mandibles join each other; but . . . it Is 
loosely applied to the whole line of closure, from true com- 
missure to tip of the bill. Coues, Key to N. A. Birds, p. 106. 
(c) In hot., the face by 
which onecarpel coheres 
to another, as in the Urn- 
bellifera! ; In mosses, the 
line of junction of two 
cells, or of the opercu- 
lum and the capsule. 
(rf) In arch., the joint 
between two stones, 
formed by the applica- 
tion of the surface of 
one to that of another. 
2. That which joins 
Or Connects. Specifl Commissure in Botany. Section of 
cally (a) 111 anat. , one Fnlit of -'**, enlarged. 
of certain bands of , a, line of the commissural faces of 
nerve-tissue, white or the two n>els. 
gray, connecting right 
and left parts of the brain and spinal cord. ('') In zool. t a 
nerve-cord connecting the larger ganglia of the nervous 
system. Anterior commissure of the brain (commls- 
sura anterior), a rounded cord of white fibers crossing in 
front of the anterior crura of the fornix. See cut under 
corpus. Commissure of the flocculus, the posterior 
medullary velum. Esophageal commissures. See 
esophayeal ring, under etophaijeal. Gray commissure 
of the spinal cord, the connection of the two lateral cres- 
centic masses of gray substance. See cut under spinal. 
Great white commissure of the brain (commissura 
magna), the corpus callosum (which see, under corpus). 
Meynert's commissure. See cummi*tntra banalis, un- 
der comiiiiMiifii. Middle or soft commissure of the 
brain (commissure media), a commissure consisting al- 
most entirely of gray substance, connecting the optic 
thalami anteriorly across the cavity of the third ventricle. 
See cut under corp.*: Optic commissure, the chiasm 
of the optic nerves. See chiasm. Posterior commis- 
sure Of the brain (coramissura posterior), a flattened 
band of white substance connecting the optic thalami pos- 
teriorly. Short commissure, a part of the inferior ver- 
miform process of the cerebellum, situated in the incisura 
posterior. Simple commissure of the cerebellum, a 
small lobe neartne incisura posterior. Wnlte commis- 
sures of the spinal cord, anterior and posterior, 
the connections of the lateral masses of white substance, 
one In front of, the other behind, the gray commissure. 
See spinal. 
commit (kp-mif), v. ; pret. and pp. committed, 
ppr. committing. (X ME. eommitten = OF. corn- 
metre, F. commettre = Pr. cometre = Sp. cometer 
= Pg. commetter = It. commcttere, < L. eommit- 
tere, bring together, join, compare, commit (a 
wrong), incur, give in charge, ete., < com-, to- 
gether, + mittere, send: see mission, missile. 
Cf admit, demit, emit, permit, submit, etc.] I. 
trans. 1. To give in trust; put into charge or 
keeping ; intrust ; surrender ; give up ; consign : 
with to or untn. 
L'utninit thy way unto the Lord ; trust also in him. 
Ps. xxxvii :. 
The Baillles of th. . ii, |,:u,,. power and auctortt* to 
,-i'iu ,,t,ttf h) in to prison. 
/;-,;../. 9fU }, p. wo. 
The temporal concern*! "I our family were chictly mm 
milted tu my wife's management. (Joiiltmith, Vicar, II. 
2. To engage; involve; put or bring into risk 
or danger by a preliminary step or decision 
which cannot be recalled; compromise'. 
\ mi niii;M ha\v satinllc.l i-vi-ry duty of political fri.-n.l 
ship without i-iniui'iUni'i thr liMMMiir of your sovereign. 
Juniit*. 
The general addressed Irti. i t ><.. n. Dates and to i;. u 
Heath, cautioning thrni against any sudden absent 
proposal, which might IMISMMV )>< rnMilrrrii a^ 'niiinit- 
/i/i.'/the faith of the I'mied states. JfonAoB, Wubinftoii. 
3. To consign to custody by official warrant, 
as a criminal or a lunatic; specifically, I" " ''' 
to prison for a short term or for trial. 
Now we'll go search the taverns, commit su< -h 
As we find drinking, and be drunk ourselves 
With what we take from tli- MI 
Fletcher (and another), Love's Cure, iv. 3. 
4. In legislation, to refer or intrust to a com- 
mittee or select number of persons for their 
consideration and report. 
After it has been carried that it [the bill] should he 
read a second time, it is committed, I. e., referred eitlii-r 
to a select committee chosen to examine it carefully, or 
the whole House goes Into committee, or sits to look into 
It phrase by phrase. A. Rmklaml, Nat. Institutions, p. iv 
5. To memorize; learn by heart : a shortened 
colloquial form of the phrase to commit to mem- 
ory : as, have you committed your speech? 6. 
To do or perform (especially something rep- 
rehensible, wrong, inapt, etc.); perpetrate: as, 
to commit murder, treason, felony, or trespass; 
to commit a blunder or a solecism. 
And now the Prince's Followers themselves come to lx> 
a Grievance, who relying upon their Master, commit many 
outrages. Baker, Chronicle*, p. 86. 
And it Is to be believed that he who commits the same 
crime often, and without necessity, cannot but do It with 
some kind of pleasure. Dryden, Grig, and Prog, of Satire. 
7t . To join or put together unfitly or heteroge- 
neously ; match improperly or incongruously ; 
confound: a Latinism. [Rare.] 
How . . . does Philopolis . . . commit the opponent 
with the respondent? Dr. H. More, Divine Dialogues. 
First taught our English musick how to span 
Words with just uote and accent, not to scan 
With Midas ears, committing short and long. 
Milton, Sonnets, viiL 
8f. To consider; regard; account. 
I was commytted the best archere 
That was in mery Englonde. 
Lytell Oeste of Robyn Hode (Child's Ballads, V. 120). 
Fully committed, in law, committed to prison for trial, 
in distinction from detention for examination preliminary 
to such commitment. To commit one's self, (a) To 
Intrust one's self ; surrender one's self : with to. 
A kinde of Swine which, . . . being hunted, commit 
theniselues quickly to the water. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 835. 
They committed themselves unto the sea. Acts xxvii. 40. 
(6) To speak or act In such a manner as virtually to bind 
one's self to a certain line of conduct, or to the approval 
of a certain opinion or course of action : as, he has com- 
mitted hiHisefr to the support of the foreign policy of the 
government ; avoid committing yourself. 
It might, perhaps, be in the power ot the embassador, 
without committing himself or his government, to animate 
the zeal of the Opposition for the laws and liberties of 
England. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., vi. 
To commit to memory, to learn by heart ; memorize. 
= 8yn. 1. Intruxt, Confide, Commit, Consign, agree in gen- 
eral in expressing a transfer from the care or keeping of 
one to that of another. To intrust is to give to another in 
trust, to put into another's care with confidence in him. 
Confide is still more expressive of trust or confidence, es- 
pecially in the receiver's discretion or integrity ; the word 
is now used most of secrete, but may be used more wide- 
ly. Commit Implies some measure of formality in the act ; 
it is the most general of these words. Consign implies still 
greater formality in the surrender : as, to consign goods to 
a person for sale ; to conxign the dead to the grave. To 
consign seems the most final as an act ; to commit stands 
next to it in this respect. 
But a case may arise, in which the government is no 
longer safe in the hands to which it has been intrusted. 
D. Webster, Speech, Oct. 12, 1832. 
Happy will it be for England if ... her interests be 
confided to men for whom history has not recorded the 
long series of human crimes and follies in vain. 
Macaulay, Hallam's Const. Hist. 
The King is by the Bishop of Hereford committed to 
the Custody of the Earl of Leicester. 
Baker, Chronicles, p. 112. 
He himself [William Penn], in the heyday of youth, was 
consigned to a long and close imprisonment in the tower. 
Bancroft, Hist. U. 8., II. 114. 
II. intrans. It. To commit adultery. 
Commit not with man's sworn spouse. Shak., Lear, ill. 4. 
2. To consign to prison ; to exercise the power 
of imprisoning. 
That power of committing which the people anciently 
loved to see the House of Commons exercise is now, at 
least when employed against libellers, the most unpopu- 
lar power in the Constitution. 
Macaulay, Hallam't Const. UUt. 
committeeship 
commitment (ko-mit ' ment ). . ( < <'<>mmit + 
-mr,it.~\ 1. The" act of committing, (a) The act 
M( ilrliverini; in charge Mr intruMtttiK. ('*) The act of de- 
liveriiiK in < barge to tlieautlioriiii-i, nf a prison ; a sending 
IM MF putting in prison, generally without or preparatory 
to a formal trial. 
What has Ihr |ui in r done .' Say; what's the cause 
Of his comnnhn- />/ ' iii. In 
Iii this dubious interval, IK.-IWI.H t],,- , ,,,,,,,/,/i... n t and 
trial, a prisoner .Hi^-lit to IM- used witb the utmot human- 
ity. M.i,-;U/o,,., I'MIII., |v. J. 
(<) In I.-;"'-'"'''"", the net nf ivffrring Mr intrusting t a 
'Miinninii !<>r i Mii-i.U-ratiMii : an, the famiHt'o "' ; > 
i Mr a lull for consideration and ri'i^rt. 
The Parliament . . . which thought this I" titi"ii worthy 
nut only i.f receiving. Imt of VMtiiiL' I" a i-f>in' 
Miltn,,, on n.. i. ,,t llnmb. Kemonst. 
('/) The act of pledging or engaging one's self : as, the 
writer's commitment to the theory of spontaneous genera- 
tion. [In thUtenie committal U more commonly uned.l 
(') The act of perpetrating ; commission. Clarendon. 
2. A written order of a court directing that 
some one be confined in prison: formerly moro 
often termed a mittimus. 
committable (ko-mit'a-bl), a. [< cunimit + 
-able.] Capable'of being committed. South. 
committal (ko-mit'al), . [< commit + -a/.] 
The act of committing, in any of the senses 
of the verb; commitment; commission: ae, 
the committal of a trust to a person, of a body 
to the grave, of a criminal to prison ; the or a 
committal (compromising, betrayal, exposure) 
of one's self. [In all uses but the last commit- 
ment or commission is more common.] 
The objection to a premature [disclosure] ... of a plan 
by the National Executive consists of the danger of com- 
mittal* on point* which could be more safely left to fur- 
ther developments. Lincoln, In Raymond, p. 429. 
committee (ko-mit ' e), n. [Early mod. E. co- 
myte (also coiiiyt for comyte, < AF. "cirmite, 'co- 
mite), irreg. < L. eommittere (> E. commit) + F. 
-e, E. -eel. Hence F. comite = D. comtte = O. 
i-niiimiiti-, etc., a committee. The analogical F. 
form is commis, committee, a clerk (see commw), 
< ML. commissus, a commissioner, deputy, etc., 
prob. pp. of L. eommittere : see commit.] 1. One 
or more individuals to whom the care of the 
person or estate of another, as a lunatic, an im- 
becile, an inebriate, or an infant in law, is com- 
mitted by the judge of a competent court. The 
committee commonly consists of one person, and is dis- 
tinguished as a committee of the person, of the estate, or of 
the person and estate, according to the subject or subjects 
of custody. In some cases the two functions are combined 
in one committee, and in others they are assigned to dif- 
ferent committees. 
2. One or more persons elected or appointed 
to attend to any matter or business referred to 
them, as by a legislative body, a court, corpo- 
ration, society, etc. committee of the whole, a 
committee of a legislative body consisting of all the mem- 
bers sitting in a deliberative rather than a legislative char- 
acter, for formal consultation and preliminary consider- 
ation of matters awaiting legislative action. A special 
presiding officer for the occasion is usually appointed, and 
parliamentary and standing rules may be less rigidly ap- 
B'ied. The full title of the committee In the United States 
ouse of Representatives is "Committee of the Whole 
House upon the State of the Union." Committees of 
correspondence. See correspondence . Joint commit- 
tee, a committee composed of two or more committees 
representing as many different bodies, appointed to con- 
fer together for the purpose of composing differences, or 
of agreeing upon joint action in some matter. Joint com- 
mittees are of special importance in the Congress of the 
United States and the State legislatures when the two 
houses disagree in regard to some measure. Riding 
committee, a visiting committee. (Scotch.) 
For several years the wishes of congregations were Ig- 
nored ; wherever the presbytery refused to api>oint at the 
will of the assembly, a riding committee, often assisted 
by military force, carried out the decision. 
Encyc. Brit., XIX 685. 
Select committee, a committee appointed to consider 
and report on a particular subject. Standing commit- 
tee, a pennanent committee, as of a legislature, society, 
etc., intended to consider all matters within an appointed 
sphere. In the Congress of the United States ana in the 
State legislatures the system of standing committees pre- 
vails. There are about 40 such committees in the United 
States Senate and about 50 in the House of Representa- 
tives, consisting of not less than .'i memliers, and, except in 
a few cases, not more than 15. The most Important com- 
mittees of the House are the Committee on Ways and 
Means, which deals with taxes, customs, and all other rev- 
enues of the government, and the Committee on Appro- 
priations, in which the principal appropriation bills origi- 
nate. Each house has also certain select committees, but 
they are not important. All bills introduced into either 
branch of Congress, and the estimates for the needed ap- 
propriations for the different executive departments, are 
referred to their appropriate committees, examined, and 
favorably or adversely reported to the House or Senate. 
committeeman (ko-mit 'e-man), n.; pl.com- 
mitteemen (-men). A member of a committee. 
committee-room (ko-mit'e-rom), n. A room 
in which a committee holds its meetings. 
committeeship (kp-mit'e-ship), n. [< committee 
+ -*/ii/(.] The office of 'a committee. Milton. 
