What does "commit" mean?
The act of committing (e.g. a database transaction), making it a permanent change; such a change.
Commit
/kəˈmɪt/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The act of committing (e.g. a database transaction), making it a permanent change; such a change.
- Grammar: commit is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: accept obligation, accomplish, accredit, achieve.
- Useful contrasts: live path, unbooked, uncommitted.
- Usage evidence: Don't commit yourself to doing it within a week.
How to use "commit"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "commit" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "commit" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "commit" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "commit" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "commit" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "accept obligation" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "commit", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act of committing (e.g. a database transaction), making it a permanent change; such a change.
"To support locking and process synchronization independently of transaction commits, the server provides semaphore objects[…]"
- 2 The submission of source code or other material to a source control repository.
- 3 A person, especially a high school athlete, who agrees verbally or signs a letter committing to attend a college or university. US, informal
Verb
- 1 To give in trust; to put into charge or keeping; to entrust; to consign; used with to or formerly unto. transitive
"Commit these numbers to memory."
- 2 transfer to another place so something can be kept or preserved wordnet
- 3 To imprison: to forcibly place in a jail. transitive
"and ſome of the Conſpirators committed to the Caſtle of Dublin by us"
- 4 make a set of changes permanent wordnet
- 5 To forcibly evaluate and treat in a medical facility, particularly for presumed mental illness. transitive
"Tony should be committed to a nuthouse!"
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause wordnet
- 7 To do (something bad); to perpetrate, as a crime, sin, or fault. transitive
"to commit murder"
- 8 make an investment wordnet
- 9 To pledge or bind; to compromise, expose, or endanger by some decisive act or preliminary step. (Traditionally used only reflexively but now also without oneself etc.) ambitransitive
"to commit oneself to a certain action"
- 10 cause to be admitted; of persons to an institution wordnet
- 11 To make a set of changes permanent. transitive
"When all SQL statements in the transaction are executed successfully, the transaction is committed and all the work that the SQL statements performed is made a permanent part of the database."
- 12 confer a trust upon wordnet
- 13 To integrate new revisions into the public or master version of a file in a version control system. transitive
- 14 engage in or perform wordnet
- 15 To enter into a contest; to match; often followed by with. intransitive, obsolete
"For, in theſe ſtrifes, and on ſuch perſons, were as wretched to affect a victorie, as it is vnhappy to be committed with them."
- 16 perform an act, usually with a negative connotation wordnet
- 17 To confound. Latinism, obsolete, transitive
"Harry whoſe tuneful and well meaſur'd Song / Firſt taught our Engliſh Muſick how to ſpan / Words with juſt note and accent, not to ſcan / With Midas Ears, committing ſhort and long;"
- 18 To commit an offence; especially, to fornicate. intransitive, obsolete
"the sonne might one day bee found committing with his mother[…]."
- 19 To be committed or perpetrated; to take place; to occur. intransitive, obsolete
"As a vaſt Herd of Cows in a rich Farmer's Yard, if, while they are milked, they hear their Calves at a Diſtance, lamenting the Robbery which is then committing, roar and bellow: So roared forth the Somerſetſhire Mob an Hallaloo, made up of almoſt as many Squawls, Screams, and other different Sounds, as there were Perſons, or indeed Paſſions, among them: […]"
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Don't commit yourself to doing it within a week."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "commit"?
Common synonyms include: accept obligation, accomplish, accredit, achieve, agree, agree to.
How do you use "commit" in a sentence?
Don't commit yourself to doing it within a week.
How do you pronounce "commit"?
Pronounced /kəˈmɪt/.
Etymology
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.