committee

Etymology

From commit + -ee, or else revival of Anglo-Norman commite, past participle of commettre (“to commit”), from Latin committere, from con- (“with”) + mittere (“to send”). The OED3 prefers the first etymology.

noun

  1. A body of one or more persons convened for the accomplishment of some specific purpose, typically with formal protocols.
    My uncle is on the committee.
  2. (archaic) A guardian; someone in charge of another person deemed to be unable to look after themself.

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/committee), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.