Commissioning

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of officially granting authority to carry out a duty ; the process of verifying and initiating operation of a system or equipment
2. Formally assigning responsibility or duty to someone or a group ; making sure a new system or device is fully tested and ready to function
3. Authorizing or appointing someone for a particular role or task ; checking and putting into service machinery or installations to ensure proper function

Etymology: The verb "commission" is built from Latin "committere", "to send together" or "to entrust", which is also the source of "commit", "committee" and "admit" in English. The Latin noun "commissio" meant a sending together or a putting of something into someone's charge, and that sense of entrusting carried into English through Old French as the idea of a formal warrant conferring authority. Its earliest meanings were about the act of charging someone with a task, which is the root of the gerund here. The participle form "commissioning" therefore describes the ongoing act of granting that authority, or of formally bringing something into service. The modern sense about checking and starting up equipment grew naturally from the older idea of formally placing something under someone's charge: a ship or machine is commissioned when it is officially handed over and put to work.

Synonyms: appointing, delegating, authorizing, instructing

Antonyms: discharging, relieving, dismissing