the formal act of taking command of a vessel for service, hoisting the flag, reading the orders, etc.

To put a vessel out of commission (Naut.), to detach the officers and crew and retire it from active service, temporarily or permanently.

To put the great seal, or the Treasury, into commission, to place it in the hands of a commissioner or commissioners during the abeyance of the ordinary administration, as between the going out of one lord keeper and the accession of another. [Eng.]

The United States Christian Commission, an organization among the people of the North, during the Civil War, which afforded material comforts to the Union soldiers, and performed services of a religious character in the field and in hospitals.

The United States Sanitary Commission, an organization formed by the people of the North to co["o]perate with and supplement the medical department of the Union armies during the Civil War.

Syn: Charge; warrant; authority; mandate; office; trust; employment.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)