Adjacent Words

Commissary definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

COMMISSARY, n.
1. In general sense, a commissioner; one to whom is committed some charge, duty or office, by a superior power; one who is sent or delegated to execute some office or duty, in the place, or as the representative, of his superior.
2. In ecclesiastical law, an officer of the bishop, who exercises spiritual jurisdiction in places of the diocese, so far distant from the episcopal see, that the chancellor cannot call the people to the bishops principal consistory court, without putting them to inconvenience.
3. In a military sense, an officer who has the charge of furnishing provisions, clothing, etc., for an army. Commissaries are distinguished by different names, according to their duties; as commissary-general, who is at the head of the department of supplies, and has under him deputy commissaries, and issuing commissaries; the latter to issue or distribute the supplies.
4. An officer who musters the army, receives and inspects the muster-rolls, and keeps an account of the strength of the army. He is called, the commissary-general of musters. The commissary of horses has the inspection of the artillery horses; and the commissary of stores has charge of all the stores of the artillery.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a retail store that sells equipment and provisions (usually to military personnel)
2: a snack bar in a film studio

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -saries) Etymology: Middle English commissarie, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin commissarius, from Latin commissus, past participle of committere Date: 14th century 1. one delegated by a superior to execute a duty or an office 2. a. a store for equipment and provisions; especially a supermarket for military personnel b. food supplies c. a lunchroom especially in a motion-picture studio

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 a deputy or delegate. 2 a representative or deputy of a bishop. 3 Mil. an officer responsible for the supply of food etc. to soldiers. 4 US a a restaurant in a film studio etc. b the food supplied. 5 US Mil. a store for the supply of food etc. to soldiers. Derivatives: commissarial adj. commissaryship n. Etymology: ME f. med.L commissarius person in charge (as COMMIT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Commissary Com"mis*sa*ry, n.; pl. Commissaries. [LL. commissarius, fr. L. commissus, p. p. of committere to commit, intrust to. See Commit.] 1. One to whom is committed some charge, duty, or office, by a superior power; a commissioner. Great Destiny, the Commissary of God. --Donne. 2. (Eccl.) An officer of the bishop, who exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction in parts of the diocese at a distance from the residence of the bishop. --Ayliffe. 3. (Mil.) (a) An officer having charge of a special service; as, the commissary of musters. (b) An officer whose business is to provide food for a body of troops or a military post; -- officially called commissary of subsistence. [U. S.] Washington wrote to the President of Congress . . . urging the appointment of a commissary general, a quartermaster general, a commissary of musters, and a commissary of artillery. --W. Irving Commissary general, an officer in charge of some special department of army service; as: (a) The officer in charge of the commissariat and transport department, or of the ordnance store department. [Eng.] (b) The commissary general of subsistence. [U. S.] Commissary general of subsistence (Mil. U. S.), the head of the subsistence department, who has charge of the purchase and issue of provisions for the army.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(commissaries) A commissary is a shop that provides food and equipment in a place such as a military camp or a prison. (AM) N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

PX, abundance, accumulation, amassment, backlog, budget, canned foods, canteen, caterer, chandler, collection, commissar, commissariat, commissionaire, commissioner, cornucopia, cumulation, dehydrated foods, delegate, donor, dump, emissary, envoy, food supply, fresh foods, frozen foods, furnisher, groceries, grocery, heap, herald, hoard, inventory, larder, legate, manciple, mass, material, materials, materiel, merchant, messenger, minister, munitions, patron, pile, plenitude, plenty, post exchange, provender, provider, provisioner, provisionment, provisions, purveyor, quartermaster, rations, repertoire, repertory, retailer, rick, secretary, stack, steward, stock, stock clerk, stock-in-trade, stockpile, store, storekeeper, stores, supplier, supplies, supply on hand, sutler, treasure, treasury, victualer, vivandier