Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Commitment \Com*mit"ment\, n.
   1. The act of committing, or putting in charge, keeping, or
      trust; consignment; esp., the act of committing to prison.

            They were glad to compound for his bare commitment
            to the Tower, whence he was within few days
            enlarged.                             --Clarendon.

   2. A warrant or order for the imprisonment of a person; --
      more frequently termed a mittimus.

   3. The act of referring or intrusting to a committee for
      consideration and report; as, the commitment of a petition
      or a bill.

   4. A doing, or perpetration, in a bad sense, as of a crime or
      blunder; commission.

   5. The act of pledging or engaging; the act of exposing,
      endangering, or compromising; also, the state of being
      pledged or engaged. --Hamilton.

Source : WordNet®

commitment
     n 1: the trait of sincere and steadfast fixity of purpose; "a man
          of energy and commitment" [syn: {committedness}]
     2: the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally)
        to a course of action; "his long commitment to public
        service"; "they felt no loyalty to a losing team" [syn: {allegiance},
         {loyalty}, {dedication}]
     3: an engagement by contract involving financial obligation;
        "his business commitments took him to London"
     4: a message that makes a pledge [syn: {dedication}]
     5: the official act of consigning a person to confinement (as
        in a prison or mental hospital) [syn: {committal}, {consignment}]