Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “committee” come from?

Committee comes from English commit, derived from Latin committere, meaning "to entrust or place together," formed from the prefix com- meaning "together" and mittere meaning "to send."

committee (English): A body of one or more persons convened for the...

Definitions

  1. A body of one or more persons convened for the...

Ancestry of “committee”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishcommitTo give in trust; to put into charge or keeping;...
2Middle Englishcommitten—
3LatincommittoI commit; I begin; I carry on
4Latincōn-—
5Latincumwith, along with; at; -fold
6Old LatincomAlternative form of cum
7Proto-Italickomwith, along, at
8Proto-Indo-Europeanḱómbeside, near, by, with
9Proto-Indo-EuropeanḱeDeictic particle, here; Post-positional...
10Middle Englishkyt—
11Germankitt—
12Old High Germankuti—
13Proto-West Germanickwidugum, resin
14Proto-Germanickweduzresin
15Proto-Indo-Europeangʷet-resin, gum; to say, speak
16Proto-Indo-Europeangū-to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,...

Words derived from “committee”

  • subcommittee
  • dotcom
  • committeeman
  • comitology
  • committeewoman
  • committeeperson
  • committeeship
  • multicommittee
  • committeeing
  • committeepeople
  • com
  • comité
  • комитет
  • comité
  • sous-comité
  • Komitee
  • comité
  • comité
  • aanbevelingscomité
  • komité
  • underkomité
  • komité
  • underkomité
  • комитет
Every word from Proto-Indo-European gū- →