committee
English
Alternative forms
- cttee (contraction)
- cmte (contraction)
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.
Pronunciation
- group of persons
- enPR: kə-mĭtʹē, IPA(key): [kəˈmɪt.i]
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪti
- person in charge of another
- (UK) IPA(key): [kɒmɪˈtiː]
Audio (UK) (file)
- Rhymes: -iː
- (US) enPR: käm-ĭ-tēʹ, IPA(key): [kɑmɪˈtiː]
Noun
committee (plural committees)
- 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.
- (archaic) A guardian; someone in charge of another person deemed to be unable to look after himself or herself.
Hypernyms
- group
Hyponyms
- program committee
Coordinate terms
- council
- squad
- task force
- team
- workgroup
- working group
Derived terms
- a camel is a horse designed by a committee
- by committee
- central committee
- clearness committee
- committeeing
- committeeman
- committee of the whole
- committeepeople
- committeeperson
- committeeship
- committeewoman
- executive committee
- exploratory committee
- God committee
- itty bitty titty committee
- joint committee
- multicommittee
- riding committee
- rubber stamp committee
- select committee
- standing committee
- steering committee
- subcommittee
- tissue committee
- vigilance committee
Descendants
- → French: comité (see there for further descendants)
Translations
group of persons convened for the accomplishment of some specific purpose
|
guardian — see guardian
Further reading
committee on Wikipedia.Wikipedia