commission
gb/kəmˈɪʃən/ us/kəmˈɪʃən/
B1
English
~ 1000
Senses
0 senses
Noun
B1
entity
1
Payment for selling or service
Money you get for selling something or doing a service, often a part of the price.
Usage pattern:
earn [a/an] commission
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse 'commission' with 'commitment' due to similar spelling and pronunciation.
Synonyms
fee (A general payment for a service, not necessarily based on sales.)
|
percentage (Specifically refers to the portion of sales value given as payment.)
Antonyms
salary (A fixed regular payment not dependent on sales or transactions.)
Collocations
earn commission
|sales commission
|receive commission
|pay commission
|commission rate
Themes
business
|money
|work
|finance
Examples
- She earns a commission on every car she sells.
- The real estate agent received a 5% commission from the sale.
- Our company offers high commission rates to top performers.
- He only works on commission, not a fixed wage.
- They paid her a commission for introducing new clients.
Learner examples
- I get a commission when I sell clothes.
- He earns a commission for each house he sells.
- She works for commission only.
- They give me a small commission for every order.
Noun
B2
entity
2
Official group with authority
A group of people chosen to do a special job or study something.
Usage pattern:
form [a/an] commission
Synonyms
committee (A general term for a group formed for a specific purpose, not always official or governmental.)
Antonyms
individual (Refers to a single person acting alone, not as part of an official group.)
Collocations
independent commission
|investigative commission
|set up a commission
|head a commission
Themes
government
|law
|organization
|politics
Examples
- The government set up a commission to investigate the accident.
- An independent commission will review the election results.
- She was appointed to the human rights commission.
- The report was issued by the education commission.
- They formed a special commission to study climate change.
Learner examples
- The city made a commission to look at the problem.
- A special commission will study the new law.
- He works on the sports commission.
- The school started a commission to help students.
Verb
formal
B2
action
3
Order creation of work
To ask someone to make something for you in an official way.
Usage pattern:
commission [someone] to [do something]
Synonyms
order (A more general term for requesting goods or services; less formal.)
|
engage (More formal; implies hiring someone’s services.)
Antonyms
cancel (To stop or withdraw an order before it is completed.)
Collocations
commission a painting
|commission research
|commission an artist
|commission work
Themes
art
|business
|projects
|arts_entertainment
|work
Examples
- The museum commissioned an artist to paint a portrait of its founder.
- They commissioned a report on renewable energy.
- We commissioned her to design our new website.
- The company commissioned research into consumer habits.
- He was commissioned to write music for the film.
Learner examples
- The school commissioned an artist to paint the wall.
- They commissioned her to write a book.
- We commissioned him to make a logo.
- The city commissioned new street art.
Noun
technical
C1
event
4
Start of official operation
The time when machines or buildings are ready and start working officially.
Synonyms
activation (General term for making something active; not necessarily formal or official.)
Antonyms
decommissioning (The process of taking equipment or facilities out of service.)
Collocations
in commission
|out of commission
|bring into commission
Themes
engineering
|military
|technology
|work
Examples
- The ship will be ready for commission next month.
- After two years of construction, the plant is finally in commission.
- The new subway line is set to go into commission this summer.
- Several buses are out of commission due to maintenance issues.
Learner examples
- The new train is now in commission.
- The factory is ready for commission.
- The old machine is out of commission.
- They will bring the bridge into commission soon.
Verb
technical
C1
action
5
Put equipment into use officially
To make machines or buildings ready and start using them officially.
Usage pattern:
commission [equipment/facility] for [use/purpose]
Synonyms
activate (To start using something; less formal and not always official.)
Antonyms
decommission (To remove equipment from active service.)
Collocations
commission a ship
|commission a plant
|commission machinery
Themes
engineering
|military
|technology
|work
Examples
- The navy commissioned three new submarines last year.
- They commissioned the power plant after safety checks were complete.
- The facility was commissioned to produce medical supplies during the crisis.
Learner examples
- They commissioned the new building last week.
- The company commissioned new machines for the factory.
- The army commissioned new tanks.
Grammar
Dictionary form
commission
IPA
GB/kəmˈɪʃən/
US/kəmˈɪʃən/
Syllables & stress
com - mis - sion (3 syllables)
Stress on 2nd syllable (mis)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: commission
- Plural: commission, commissions
Verb
- Base: commission
- 3rd Person Singular: commissions
- Present Participle: commissioning
- Past: commissioned
Word family
Forms
commissions
noun
commissioning
verb
commissioned
verb
Related words
commissioner
noun B1
Negative and opposite forms
decommission
verb
Advanced or less common
recommission
verb
Expressions
on commission
1/ˈɔn kəmˈɪʃən/
fixed phrase
Paid by sales percentage
Paid based on how much you sell, not with a set amount each time.
Examples
- She works on commission and earns more when sales are high.
- Most real estate agents are paid on commission.
out of commission
1/ˈaʊt əv kəmˈɪʃən/
fixed phrase
Not working or unavailable
Not working or not able to be used for some time.
Examples
- My phone is out of commission until I get it fixed.
- The elevator has been out of commission for two days.
set up a commission
1/sˈɛt ˈʌp ə kəmˈɪʃən/
fixed phrase
Create an official group for task
To start an official group to do a job or study something.
Examples
- The government will set up a commission to review the law.
- They set up a commission to investigate the accident.