*issar*

n. [ F. commissariat. ] (Mil.) (a) The organized system by which armies and military posts are supplied with food and daily necessaries. (b) The body of officers charged with such service. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Commissaries [ LL. commissarius, fr. L. commissus, p. p. of committere to commit, intrust to. See Commit. ] 1. One to whom is committed some charge, duty, or office, by a superior power; a commissioner. [ 1913 Webster ]

Great Destiny, the Commissary of God. Donne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Eccl.) An officer of the bishop, who exercises ecclesiastical jurisdiction in parts of the diocese at a distance from the residence of the bishop. Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mil.) (a) An officer having charge of a special service; as, the commissary of musters. (b) An officer whose business is to provide food for a body of troops or a military post; -- officially called commissary of subsistence. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Washington wrote to the President of Congress . . . urging the appointment of a commissary general, a quartermaster general, a commissary of musters, and a commissary of artillery. W. Irving [ 1913 Webster ]

Commissary general, an officer in charge of some special department of army service; as: (a) The officer in charge of the commissariat and transport department, or of the ordnance store department. [ Eng. ] (b) The commissary general of subsistence. [ U. S. ] --
Commissary general of subsistence (Mil. U. S.), the head of the subsistence department, who has charge of the purchase and issue of provisions for the army. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office or employment of a commissary. Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Emissaries [ L. emissarius, fr. emittere, emissum, to send out: cf. F. émissaire. See Emit. ] An agent employed to advance, in a covert manner, the interests of his employers; one sent out by any power that is at war with another, to create dissatisfaction among the people of the latter. [ 1913 Webster ]

Buzzing emissaries fill the ears
Of listening crowds with jealousies and fears. Dryden.

Syn. -- Emissary, Spy. A spy is one who enters an enemy's camp or territories to learn the condition of the enemy; an emissary may be a secret agent appointed not only to detect the schemes of an opposing party, but to influence their councils. A spy must be concealed, or he suffers death; an emissary may in some cases be known as the agent of an adversary without incurring similar hazard. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Exploring; spying. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Anat.) Applied to the veins which pass out of the cranium through apertures in its walls. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office of an emissary. [ 1913 Webster ]