commit

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To do something wrong or illegal, such as a crime.

   He was sent to prison for committing a serious crime.

2. 2
   verb

   To promise to give your time, effort, or loyalty to something.

   I committed myself to the charity with a large donation of time and money.

3. 3
   verb

   To give something to someone to keep or look after; to entrust.

   Commit these numbers to memory.

4. 4
   verb

   To send someone to a hospital or institution, especially for mental illness.

   The court ordered that he be committed to a psychiatric hospital.

Common collocations

• commit a crime Verb + noun

Inherited from Middle English committen, itself borrowed from Latin committō (“to bring together, join, compare, commit (a wrong), incur, give in charge, etc.”), from com- (“together”) + mittō (“to send”). See mission.

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