com·mis·sion·aire

(kə-mĭsh′ə-nâr′)

n. Chiefly British

A uniformed attendant, such as a doorman.

[French, from Medieval Latin commissiōnārius, from Latin commissiō, commissiōn-, commission; see commission.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

commissionaire

(kəˌmɪʃəˈnɛə)

(Professions) chiefly Brit a uniformed doorman at a hotel, theatre, etc

[C18: from French, from commission]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

com•mis•sion•aire

(kəˌmɪʃ əˈnɛər)

n. Brit.

a uniformed attendant.

[1755–65; < French commissionnaire; see commission, -aire]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

commissionaire - a uniformed doorman

Britain, Great Britain, U.K., UK, United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland - a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; `Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom

door guard, doorman, hall porter, ostiary, porter, gatekeeper, doorkeeper - someone who guards an entrance

Translations

حاجِب بَوّاب

vrátný

dørvogter

Portier

chasseur

ajtónálló

dyravörîur

commissionaire

[kəˌmɪʃəˈnɛəʳ] N (Brit, Canada) → portero m, conserje m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

commissionaire

[kəˌmɪʃəˈnɛə^r] n (British) (at shop, cinema) → portier m (en uniforme)commissioned officer [kəˈmɪʃ^əndˈɒfɪsə^r] n → officier m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

commissionaire

n → Portier m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

commissionaire

[kəˌmɪʃəˈnɛəʳ] n (Brit) (at shop, cinema) → portiere m in livrea

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

commission

(kəˈmiʃən)

1. money earned by a person who sells things for someone else.

2. an order for a work of art. a commission to paint the president's portrait.

3. an official paper giving authority, especially to an army officer etc. My son got his commission last year.

4. an official group appointed to report on a specific matter. a commission of enquiry.

verb

1. to give an order (especially for a work of art) to. He was commissioned to paint the Lord Mayor's portrait.

2. to give a military commission to.

comˌmissioˈnaire (-ˈneə) noun

a doorkeeper in uniform. the commissionaire at the cinema.

comˈmissioner noun

a representative of the government in a district or department.

in/out of commission

in, or not in, a usable, working condition.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The tall commissionaire looked in amazement at her.

The commissionaire put his finger on the bell of the outside door.

View in context

Most of the goods were sent on drays to the magazin, but our reputation having preceded us, we were honored with a fiacre, making the journey between the Douane and the shop on the knee of a confidential commissionaire.

{Picardie = province of France, north of Evreux; barrieres = gates at the edge of Paris, where local customs duties were collected; magazin = shop; fiacre = a kind of carriage; Douane = customs house; confidential commissionaire = special messenger}

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He was immediately inquiring of a tall commissionaire in shining braid, and a short porter in shirt sleeves, whether anybody or anything had been seeking his apartments.

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'commissionaire' of the hotel--I don't know what a 'commissionaire' is, but that is the man we went to--and told him we wanted a guide.

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Sherlock Holmes had opened his mouth to reply, when the door flew open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with astonishment.

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The commissionaire stood stolidly in his place, raising every now and then his cab whistle to his lips.

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I think she was a little surprised to find that both outfits were for the same house; and she certainly betrayed an ignoble curiosity about the mother's Christian name, but she was much easier to brow-beat than a fine lady would have been, and I am sure she and her daughter enjoyed themselves hugely in the shops, from one of which I shall never forget Irene emerging proudly with a commissionaire, who conducted her under an umbrella to the cab where I was lying in wait.

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If you care to learn how he had gathered information, you will find that he had, on one occasion, disguised himself as the commissionaire between the 'Laboratory of the Surete' and Monsieur Stangerson, of whom 'experiments' were demanded.

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At once, both in the person of the commissionaire and in the persons of the footmen, there sprang to life the same reverence as had arisen in the lacqueys of the hotel.

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We wait on, hoping against hope, and at last, just as waiters and commissionaires are beginning to eye us with suspicion, we face the truth.

View in context