commit

commit [kə mit′]

vt.

committed, committing [ME committen < L committere, to bring together, commit < com-, together + mittere, to send: see MISSION]

1. to give in charge or trust; deliver for safekeeping; entrust; consign [we commit his fame to posterity]

2. to put officially in custody or confinement [committed to prison]

3. to hand over or set apart to be disposed of or put to some purpose [to commit something to the trash heap]

4. to do or perpetrate (an offense or crime)

5. to bind as by a promise; pledge; engage [committed to the struggle]

6. to make known the opinions or views of [to commit oneself on an issue]

7. to refer (a bill, etc.) to a committee to be considered

vi.

Informal to make a pledge or promise: often with to

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commit to memory

to learn by heart; memorize

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commit to paper or commit to writing

to write down; record

committable

adj.

SYN.- COMMIT, the basic term here, implies the delivery of a person or thing into the charge or keeping of another; ENTRUST implies committal based on trust and confidence; CONFIDE stresses the private nature of information entrusted to another and usually connotes intimacy of relationship; CONSIGN suggests formal action in transferring something to another's possession or control; RELEGATE implies a consigning to a specific class, sphere, place, etc., esp. one of inferiority, and usually suggests the literal or figurative removal of something undesirable