commissionaire

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UK/kəˌmɪʃəˈnɛː/US/kəˌmɪʃəˈnɛɹ/obsolete/kəˌmɪsjəˈnɛɹ/obsolete/kəˌmɪsjəˈneɪɹ/

noun

One entrusted with a (small) commission, such as an errand; especially, an attendant or subordinate employee in a public office, hotel, etc.

OriginFrench commissionaire ← Latin commissio →
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Meanings

nouncommissionaire (plural commissionaires)

plural commissionaires · alternative commissionnaire

  1. One entrusted with a (small) commission, such as an errand; especially, an attendant or subordinate employee in a public office, hotel, etc.
  2. UKA uniformed doorman.

    When the day came Nick turned up early at the bank and waited under a palm tree in the atrium. People hurried in, nodding to the commissionaire, who still wore a tailcoat and a top hat.

    2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 8, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN
  3. lawAn undisclosed agent under European civil law.

Origin

  1. Latincommissio
  2. Frenchcommissionaire
  3. Englishcommissionaire

Borrowed from French commissionaire, from Latin commissio. Doublet of commissioner.

More words from French, Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

commissionaire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commissionaire

MLA

“commissionaire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commissionaire. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “commissionaire,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/commissionaire.

Source: commissionaire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.