commissary Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a retail store that sells equipment and provisions (usually to military personnel)
  2. noun a snack bar in a film studio

WordNet

Com"mis*sa*ry noun
Etymology
LL. commissarius, fr. L. commissus, p. p. of committere to commit, intrust to. See Commit.
Wordforms
plural Commissaries
Definitions
  1. One to whom is committed some charge, duty, or office, by a superior power; a commissioner.
    Great Destiny, the Commissary of God. Donne.
  2. (Eccl.) An officer on the bishop, who exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction in parts of the diocese at a distance from the residence of the bishop. Ayliffe.
  3. (Mil.) (a) An officer having charge of a special sevice; as, the commissary of musters. (b) An officer whose business is to provide food for a body of troops or a military post; -- officially called commissary of subsistence. U. S.
    Washington wrote to the President of Congress . . . urging the appointment of a commissary general, a quartermaster general, a commissary of musters, and a commissary of artillery. W. Irving

Webster 1913