WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Com"mis*sa*ry
Part of Speech : n.;
Etymology : [LL. commissarius, fr. L. commissus, p. p. of committere to commit, intrust to. See Commit.]
Definition : 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.)

Defn: An officer on 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 sevice; 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 ordinace 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.

pl. Commissaries.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913