commissary

noun com·mis·sary \ ˈkä-mə-ˌser-ē , -ˌse-rē \

Updated on: 14 May 2018

plural commissaries

1 : one delegated by a superior to execute a duty or an office

2 a : a store for equipment and provisions; especially : a supermarket for military personnel

b : food supplies

c : a lunchroom especially in a motion-picture studio

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commissarial

play \ˌkä-mə-ˈsär-ē-əl, -ˈser-\ adjective

See commissary defined for English-language learners

See commissary defined for kids

Examples of commissary in a Sentence

will serve as commissary of religious education for the whole diocese

Recent Examples of commissary from the Web

Alcohol prices at the commissaries will be comparable to those at military exchanges, Wilkie added.

— leada gore, AL.com, "Military commissaries to start selling wine, beer," 2 May 2018
These kiosks are supposed to allow prisoners to perform a limited set of functions, like purchasing items from the prison commissary or sending or receiving electronic messages.

— timothy b. lee, Ars Technica, "“Your ass is about to get swatted,” swatting suspect tweets from jail," 10 Apr. 2018
Enfield prison inmate Garrett Bostick, 33, confirmed that a lot of his fellow prisoners eat from the commissary, spending their money on things like ramen noodles.

— susan haigh, courant.com, "Connecticut Wants To Spend More, Not Less, On Prison Food," 26 Apr. 2018
Cruz also has $2,200 in Microsoft stock, $700 in a Broward County Jail commissary account and $353 in a bank account, the order says.

— curt anderson, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz can keep his public defender, judge rules," 24 Apr. 2018
Like all Cubans, they were excluded from the American commissaries, clubs, and jobs—an exclusion that later became the subject of bitter speeches by Fidel.

— naomi fry, The New Yorker, "Rachel Kushner’s Immersive Fiction," 23 Apr. 2018
According to the Los Angeles Times, the stand served spaghetti made from a local commissary kitchen, and featured menu items like take-out spaghetti ($9), spaghetti with meatballs ($12), and a spaghetti sandwich ($11).

— madison roberts, PEOPLE.com, "Eminem Served His Famous 'Mom's Spaghetti' at Coachella," 16 Apr. 2018
To this end, women also worked in the commissaries, as nurses in the first-aid departments and as teachers in on-site schools for child actors.

— donna rifkind, WSJ, "‘Nobody’s Girl Friday’ Review: All They Needed Was a Chance," 12 Apr. 2018
The army established warehouses, offices, an ordnance depot, a commissary, two hospitals and more.

— kelly kazek, AL.com, "Scenes from Demopolis: Home of Gaineswood, Vine & Olive Colony," 3 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'commissary.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of commissary

Middle English commissarie, borrowed from Anglo-French commissaire, commissarie, borrowed from Medieval Latin commissārius, from Latin commissus (past participle of committere "to join together, engage, place in the keeping of, entrust, bring about") + -ārius ¹-ary — more at commit

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1555

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year