commissio

Commissio is a Latin noun meaning a sending, mission, or commission—the act of entrusting a task to someone or the body that is entrusted with a task. Derived from the verb committere “to entrust, commit,” the term appears in classical and medieval Latin to denote missions, delegations, or the grant of authority to act on behalf of a ruler, magistrate, or institution. In legal and administrative contexts, commissio could refer to an appointment or mandate given to individuals or groups to carry out specified duties.

In ecclesiastical and canon law usage, commissio is used to describe commissions appointed to investigate, oversee, or administer particular affairs, exercising delegated authority within an ecclesiastical or doctrinal framework. The sense ranges from a temporary delegation for a specific matter to a broader assignment of jurisdiction or mandate. The term also appears in scholarly Latin as a generic gloss for the concept of a commission in governance and public administration.

The modern English word commission derives from this Latin root and encompasses several related senses: a formal group authorized to perform a task; the act of granting such authority; or the fee paid for services rendered to create or procure a work. In contemporary usage, commissions appear as government bodies or inquiries (for example, royal commissions or investigative commissions) and as a general term for commissioned works in arts and sciences. Though chiefly encountered in historical or linguistic contexts, commissio informs the conceptual basis of the modern term commission.