Where does “commissar” come from?
Commissar comes from Russian комисса́р, from German Kommissar, from Latin commissarius, meaning an official entrusted with a charge, derived from commissus, past participle of committere, meaning to entrust or commit.
commissar (English): An official of the Communist Party, often...
Definitions
- An official of the Communist Party, often...
Ancestry of “commissar”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Russian | комисса́р | — |
| 2 | French | commissaire | commissioner; chief of police, head of police,... |
| 3 | Medieval Latin | commissionarius | — |
| 4 | Latin | commissio | commission |
| 5 | Latin | committo | I commit; I begin; I carry on |
| 6 | Latin | cōn- | — |
| 7 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 8 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 12 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 13 | German | kitt | — |
| 14 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 15 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 16 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 17 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 18 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |