commissioner

noun

com·​mis·​sion·​er kə-ˈmi-sh(ə-)nər 

: a person with a commission: such as

a

: a member of a commission

b

: the representative of the governmental authority in a district, province, or other unit often having both judicial and administrative powers

c

: the officer in charge of a department or bureau of the public service

d

: the administrative head of a professional sport

commissionership

kə-ˈmi-sh(ə-)nər-ˌship 

noun

Examples of commissioner in a Sentence

The baseball commissioner decided to suspend the players for 10 games.

Recent Examples on the Web

Stern was in San Francisco on Thursday and urged the commissioners to postpone their decision until March 31. —Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2024

David Weekley Homes pulls plan to build 274 homes near Lebanon's Five Oaks community after a negative recommendation by planning commissioners. —Andy Humbles, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024

Saying that the number of commissioners is not the answer, Lamont said the solution is increasing the amount of supply of electricity in Connecticut. —Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 19 Dec. 2024

Some of the world’s greatest unscripted formats were created with a spark by a wipe board, pitched with an in-person run-through and then sold to executives and commissioners that were given the freedom and motivation themselves to take the occasional risk. —Peter White, Deadline, 19 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, "person empowered to carry out defined duties," borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Medieval Latin commissiōnārius, from commissiōn-, commissiō commission entry 1 + Latin -ārius -ary entry 1

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing commissioner

• high commissioner
• resident commissioner

Kids Definition

commissioner

noun

com·​mis·​sion·​er kə-ˈmish-(ə-)nər 

1

: a member of a commission

2

: an official in charge of a government department

Police Commissioner

Legal Definition

commissioner

noun

com·​mis·​sion·​er

: a person with a commission: as

a

: a member of a commission

b

often capitalized : the officer in charge of a government agency

a police commissioner