commissar

English

Etymology

From Russian комисса́р (komissár), from German Kommissar (“commissioner”), from Latin commissarius, from commissus, past participle of committō (“to commit, entrust to”). Doublet of commissary.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌkɒmɪ.ˈsɑː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑ.məˌsɑɹ/

Noun

commissar (plural commissars)

1. (historical) An official of the Communist Party, often attached to a military unit, who was responsible for political education.
2. (historical, Soviet Union) In the early Soviet Union, the head of a commissariat.
3. (colloquial) A political functionary whose job is to push the party or government line. Often used semi-humorously.

Derived terms

• commissarial
• commissariat
• political commissar

Translations

(Soviet Union) the head of a commissariat

• Belarusian: каміса́р m (kamisár)
• Bulgarian: комиса́р m (komisár)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 政委 (zh) (zhèngwěi)

• Finnish: komissaari (fi)
• French: commissaire (fr) m or f
• German: Kommissar (de) m, Kommissarin (de) f
• Hungarian: komisszárius, komisszár (hu) (archaic), népbiztos (hu) (historical), kormánybiztos (hu)
• Indonesian: komisar (id), komisaris (id)
• Romanian: comisar (ro) m
• Russian: комисса́р (ru) m (komissár)
• Swedish: kommissarie (sv) c
• Ukrainian: коміса́р m (komisár)

Anagrams

• micromass