commissary
com·mis·sa·ry/ˈkɑ.mɪˌsɛɹ.i/noun
commissary is spelled C-O-M-M-I-S-S-A-R-Y: 10 letters and 4 syllables (com·mis·sa·ry). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, commissary means “A store primarily serving persons in an institution, most often soldiers or prisoners” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of commissary is commissaries.
How many letters and syllables are in commissary?
| Letters | 10: C-O-M-M-I-S-S-A-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: com·mis·sa·ry |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,565th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is commissary?
Commissary appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce commissary?
- UK /ˈkɒm.ɪ.s(ə)ɹi/
- US /ˈkɑ.mɪˌsɛɹ.i/
- US /ˈkɑ.məˌsɛɹ.i/
Commissary has 4 syllables, split com·mis·sa·ry in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Grendelkhan-commissary.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of commissary
- commissaries plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does commissary mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A store primarily serving persons in an institution, most often soldiers or prisoners.
- 2
An account which a prisoner uses to buy provisions, or the balance of that account.
- 3
A cafeteria at a television or movie studio.
- 4
One to whom is committed some charge, duty, or office, by a superior power; a commissioner.
- 5
An officer of the bishop, who exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction in parts of the diocese at a distance from the residence of the bishop.
- 6
An officer who supplies provisions to an army.
- 7
The judge in a commissary court.
- 8
A higher-ranking police officer.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does commissary come from?
From Late Latin commissarius, from commissus, past participle of committō (“to commit, entrust to”). Doublet of commissar.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).