Editing Commissary (section)

{{Short description|Someone delegated by a superior to execute a duty or an office}}
{{for|the type of store|Commissary (store)}}
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A '''commissary''' is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop.<ref>{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Commissary|volume=6|page=774}}</ref>

In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often corresponds to the command of a police station, which is then known as a "[[commissariat]]". In some armed forces, commissaries are officials charged with overseeing the purchase and delivery of supplies, and they have powers of administrative and financial oversight. Then, the "[[commissariat]]" is the organization associated with the corps of commissaries. By extension, the term "[[Commissary (store)|commissary]]" came to be used for the building where supplies were disbursed.

In some countries, both roles are used; for example, [[France]] uses "[[police Commissary|police commissaries]]" (''commissaires de police'') in the [[French National Police]] and "armed forces commissaries" (''commissaires des armées'') in the [[French armed forces]].

The equivalent terms are ''commissaire'' in French, ''commissario'' in Italian, ''Kommissar'' in Standard German, ''Kommissär'' in Swiss German and Luxembourgish, ''comisario'' in Spanish, ''commissaris'' in Dutch and Flemish, ''komisario'' in Finnish, ''komisarz'' in Polish and ''comissário'' in Portuguese. In many instances these words may also be the equivalent to [[commissioner]], depending on the context.