DCHP-1 Online

commis [< Cdn F] Fur Trade, Hist.

• n. a clerk (def. 1).

  See also: clerk (def. 1)  

  • 1804  (1889)  [Liste des "bourgeois," commis, engagés, et "voyageurs" de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest, après la fusion de 1804.]
  • 1918  The guides, commis, and interpreters . . . were . . . not of the best.
  • 1947  It was growing late and the commis was trying to pluck up enough courage to make his round of inspection.
  • 1951  Commis--Clerk but not in the usual sense of the word. The clerks of the North West Company were often men of great responsibility, with districts as large as a modern Canadian province.