The United States Christian Commission

Commission \Com*mis"sion\, n. [F., fr. L. commissio. See
   {Commit}.]
   1. The act of committing, doing, or performing; the act of
      perpetrating.
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            Every commission of sin introduces into the soul a
            certain degree of hardness.           --South.
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   2. The act of intrusting; a charge; instructions as to how a
      trust shall be executed.
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   3. The duty or employment intrusted to any person or persons;
      a trust; a charge.
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   4. A formal written warrant or authority, granting certain
      powers or privileges and authorizing or commanding the
      performance of certain duties.
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            Let him see our commission.           --Shak.
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   5. A certificate conferring military or naval rank and
      authority; as, a colonel's commission.
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   6. A company of persons joined in the performance of some
      duty or the execution of some trust; as, the interstate
      commerce commission.
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            A commission was at once appointed to examine into
            the matter.                           --Prescott.
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   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}.
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   {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 officer} 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.]

   {on commission}, paid partly or completely by collecting as a
      commision a portion of the sales that one makes.

   {out of commission}, not operating properly; out of order.

   {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 put the great seal into commission} or {To put 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 cooperate 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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