noun

die Kommission, -en

commission

Eine Gruppe von Personen, die zusammenarbeitet, um eine bestimmte Aufgabe zu prüfen, zu planen oder zu entscheiden.

Definition & meaning

Kommission is a feminine German noun with several related meanings:

A committee or official body formed to study, decide, or oversee something.
Die Kommission prüft den Vorschlag. — “The committee is reviewing the proposal.”
A prominent example is the Europäische Kommission , the executive body of the European Union.
An assignment or task entrusted to someone, especially in a formal or commercial context. The word can also refer to the body appointed to carry it out.
A sale on behalf of someone else, where the seller acts as an intermediary. In this context, auf Kommission means “on consignment” or “on commission.”

Grammar & Word origin

Gender: feminine — die Kommission
Plural: die Kommissionen
Pronunciation: approximately koh-miss-YOHN

The word came into German through French commission, from Latin commissio, meaning “entrusting” or “assignment.” The Latin is related to committere (“to entrust” or “to commit”). In modern German, Kommission is not usually analyzed as a combination of meaningful German word parts.

Synonyms & antonyms

The best synonym depends on the meaning:

A committee: Ausschuss or Gremium . Ausschuss often refers to a committee within a larger organization, while Gremium is a broader term for a decision-making or advisory body.
An entrusted task: Auftrag [?](vocabuo://word/Auftrag] or Mandat . Auftrag is a general assignment; Mandat often suggests formal authority or a political or legal role.
There is no general direct antonym for Kommission. The appropriate opposite depends on the sense and context.