Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

the formal act of taking command of a vessel for service,
hoisting the flag, reading the orders, etc.

   {To put a vessel out of commission} (Naut.), to detach the
      officers and crew and retire it from active service,
      temporarily or permanently.

   {To put} {the great seal, or the Treasury}, {into
   commission}, to place it in the hands of a commissioner or
      commissioners during the abeyance of the ordinary
      administration, as between the going out of one lord
      keeper and the accession of another. [Eng.]

   {The United States Christian Commission}, an organization
      among the people of the North, during the Civil War, which
      afforded material comforts to the Union soldiers, and
      performed services of a religious character in the field
      and in hospitals.

   {The United States Sanitary Commission}, an organization
      formed by the people of the North to co["o]perate with and
      supplement the medical department of the Union armies
      during the Civil War.

   Syn: Charge; warrant; authority; mandate; office; trust;
        employment.