Etymograph

English

commissar

Commissar comes from German Kommissar ‘commissioner’, from Latin mittō ‘to send’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *méyth₂eti.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méyth₂eti1uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*meitō1‘to put forth, put out’uncertain
  3. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEmītō1uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittō1‘to send’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommittō2‘to commit, entrust to’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommissus2‘committed, having been committed’past participle of committō
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommissarius2
  8. Germanc. 1650–presentKommissar2‘commissioner’
  9. Russianmodernкомисса́р2komissár
  10. Englishearliest quotation 2022commissar2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin committo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English commissar
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2022, Jamelle Bouie, Opinion: You Just Can’t Tell the Truth About America Anymore: “There is a dangerous censoriousness pulsing through American society.…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*méyth₂etiWiktionary, Latin committouncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*meitōWiktionary, Latin committo‘to put forth, put out’uncertain
  3. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEmītōWiktionary, Latin committouncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmittōWiktionary, Latin committo‘to send’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommittōWiktionary, English commissar‘to commit, entrust to’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommissusWiktionary, English commissar‘committed, having been committed’past participle of committō
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcommissariusWiktionary, English commissar
  8. Germanc. 1650–presentKommissarWiktionary, English commissar‘commissioner’
  9. Russianmodernкомисса́рWiktionary, English commissarkomissár
  10. Englishearliest quotation 2022commissarWiktionary, English commissar. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2022, Jamelle Bouie, Opinion: You Just Can’t Tell the Truth About America Anymore: “There is a dangerous censoriousness pulsing through American society.…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *meitō ‘to put forth, put out’

remission, unremitting, 21 more

through Old Latin mītō

permission, transmission, admission, submission, emission, remit, omission, 23 more

through Latin mittō ‘to send’

admit, mission, mess, missile, transmit, premise, dismiss, intermittent, emit, amit, omit, permissive, remiss, missive, 36 more

through Latin committō ‘to commit, entrust to’

committee, 10 more

Today it means

noun An official of the Communist Party, often attached to a military unit, who was responsible for political education.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “commissar”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin committo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *méyth₂eti / commissar

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