Committing

[kuh-mit] /kəˈmɪt/

verb (used with object), committed, committing.
1.
to give in trust or charge; consign.
2.
to consign for preservation:
to commit ideas to writing; to commit a poem to memory.
3.
to pledge (oneself) to a position on an issue or question; express (one’s intention, feeling, etc.):
Asked if he was a candidate, he refused to commit himself.
4.
to bind or obligate, as by pledge or assurance; pledge:
to commit oneself to a promise; to be committed to a course of action.
5.
to entrust, especially for safekeeping; commend:
to commit one’s soul to God.
6.
to do; perform; perpetrate:
to commit murder; to commit an error.
7.
to consign to custody:
to commit a delinquent to a reformatory.
8.
to place in a mental institution or hospital by or as if by legal authority:
He was committed on the certificate of two psychiatrists.
9.
to deliver for treatment, disposal, etc.; relegate:
to commit a manuscript to the flames.
10.
to send into a battle:
The commander has committed all his troops to the front lines.
11.
Parliamentary Procedure. to refer (a bill or the like) to a for consideration.
verb (used without object), committed, committing.
12.
to pledge or engage oneself:
an athlete who commits to the highest standards.
/kəˈmɪt/
verb (transitive) -mits, -mitting, -mitted
1.
to hand over, as for safekeeping; charge; entrust: to commit a child to the care of its aunt
2.
commit to memory, to learn by heart; memorize
3.
to confine officially or take into custody: to commit someone to prison
4.
(usually passive) to pledge or align (oneself), as to a particular cause, action, or attitude: a committed radical
5.
to order (forces) into action
6.
to perform (a crime, error, etc); do; perpetrate
7.
to surrender, esp for destruction: she committed the letter to the fire
8.
to refer (a bill, etc) to a committee of a legislature
v.

late 14c., “to give in charge, entrust,” from Latin committere “to unite, connect, combine; to bring together,” from com- “together” (see com-) + mittere “to put, send” (see mission). Evolution into modern range of meanings is not entirely clear. Sense of “perpetrating” was ancient in Latin; in English from mid-15c. The intransitive use (in place of commit oneself) first recorded 1982, probably influenced by existentialism use (1948) of commitment to translate Sartre’s engagement “emotional and moral engagement.”

commit com·mit (kə-mĭt’)
v. com·mit·ted, com·mit·ting, com·mits
To place officially in confinement or custody, as in a mental health facility.