commission
/kəˈmɪʃən/noun, verb
commission is spelled C-O-M-M-I-S-S-I-O-N. The wrong spelling people search most is commision: about 1,210 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Commission is a noun meaning “A sending or mission (to do or accomplish something)”. The plural of commission is commissions.
How many letters and syllables are in commission?
| Letters | 10: C-O-M-M-I-S-S-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 81 times per million words; the 1,302nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, commision, about 1,210 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell commission?
Commission is spelled C-O-M-M-I-S-S-I-O-N. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for commission in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is commission?
Commission appears 81 times per million words in written English, the 1,302nd 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 commission?
- /kəˈmɪʃən/
Commission has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-commission.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with commission
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: comission.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of commission
- commissions plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- commissioning participle, present
- commissioned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does commission mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A sending or mission (to do or accomplish something).
- 2
An official charge or authority to do something, often used of military officers.
David received his commission after graduating from West Point.
- 3
The thing to be done as agent for another.
I have three commissions for the city.
- 4
A body or group of people, officially tasked with carrying out a particular function.
the European Commission
- 5
A fee charged by an agent or broker for carrying out a transaction.
a reseller's commission
- 6
A bonus in pay awarded to a salesperson for selling a particular, secretly sponsored product, for which the sponsor will reimburse the employer.
- 7
A payment by a fan to an artist, after which the artist will produce a work of art requested by the fan.
- 8
The act of committing (e.g. a crime or error).
the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism
- 9
UKobsoleteslangA shirt or chemise.
As from our beds, we doe oft cast our eyes, / Cleane linnen yeelds a shirt before we rise, / Which is a garment shifting in condition; / And in the canting tongue is a commission.
verb
- 1
To send or officially charge someone or some group to do something.
James Bond was commissioned with recovering the secret documents.
- 2
To place an order for (often a piece of art).
He commissioned a replica of the Mona Lisa for his living room, but the painter gave up after six months.
- 3
To put (a ship or boat, etc.) into active service.
The aircraft carrier was commissioned in 1944, during WWII.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate commission?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of commission: Comm'n, comm.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Commission in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Auftrag , Offizierspatent , Kommission, Ausschuss , Abschlussprämie , beauftragen |
| Portuguese | missão , comissão , encarregar , encargo , acometimento |
| Spanish | cometido , destino, cargo , encargar , comisión, encargo |
| French | commission , courtage , charger, missionner , commander , mettre en service |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does commission come from?
From Middle English commissioun, from Old French commission, from Latin commissiō (“sending together; commission”), from committō + -tiō (suffix forming nouns of action), from com- (“with”) + mittō (“to send”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).