English
commissar
Commissar comes from German Kommissar ‘commissioner’, and goes back to Latin mittō ‘to send’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittō‘to send’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommittō‘to commit, entrust to’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommissus‘committed, having been committed’past participle of committō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommissarius
- Germanc. 1650–presentKommissar‘commissioner’
- Russianmodernкомисса́рkomissár
- Englishearliest quotation 2022commissar
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittō‘to send’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommittō‘to commit, entrust to’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommissus‘committed, having been committed’past participle of committō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommissarius
- Germanc. 1650–presentKommissar‘commissioner’
- Russianmodernкомисса́рkomissár
- Englishearliest quotation 2022commissar
Earliest quotation: 2022, Jamelle Bouie, Opinion: You Just Can’t Tell the Truth About America Anymore: “There is a dangerous censoriousness pulsing through American society.…”
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *meitō ‘to put forth, put out’
remission, unremitting, 21 more
through Old Latin mītō
permission, transmission, admission, submission, emission, remit, omission, 23 more
through Latin mittō ‘to send’
admit, mission, mess, missile, transmit, premise, dismiss, intermittent, emit, amit, omit, permissive, remiss, missive, 36 more
through Latin committō ‘to commit, entrust to’
Today it means
noun An official of the Communist Party, often attached to a military unit, who was responsible for political education.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin mittō / commissar