non-commissionedadj.
/ˌnɒnkəˈmɪʃnd/, U.S. /ˌnɑnkəˈmɪʃ(ə)nd/ 1. Of a subordinate officer (esp. a sergeant) in the armed services: not holding a commission, appointed from the enlisted personnel. Cf. non-commission officer n.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer or soldier of rank > [noun] > non-commissioned officer
non-commissioned1648
staff officer1702
staff officer1702
NCO1803
non-com1834
mate1890
unteroffizier1917
society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > leader or commander > officer or soldier of rank > [adjective] > non-commissioned
non-commissioned1648
non-commission officer1648
1648 Die Sabbathi 8 As to the whole Arrear of any private Soldier or non-Commissioned Officer,..There shall not..be any stop or delay made to the payment thereof.
1677 Earl of Orrery Treat. Art of War 17 And therefore if the several Commission'd and Non-commission'd Officers of every Troop and Company of the Militia, were strictly ordered on Holy-dayes, to exercise those of their Neighborhood which are of their Troop or Company, [etc.].
1703 London Gaz. No. 3906/4 The Noncommissioned Officers and private Troopers of the Honourable Lieutenant-General Lumley's Regiment of Horse.
1755 J. Wolfe Instr. Young Officers (1768) 41 If the soldiers of a company discover a maligner [sic] at any time, or one of those rascals that shun duty and danger, from cowardice or effeminacy, they are to inform the non-commissioned officers of the company.
1764 T. Legg Low-life (ed. 3) 72 The Non-Commissioned Officiers, and Fore-Mast Men of all the Royal Yachts moored about Greenwich.
1813 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1838) X. 469 As to the non-commissioned officers,..they are as bad as the men.
1875 Encycl. Brit. II. 592/2 Recruiting is carried on by parties detached, or by non-commissioned officers and men on furlough.
1893 Dict. National Biogr. XXXV. 370/1 Rising by merit through the non-commissioned grades, he obtained his first commission as lieutenant-fireworker in 1742.
1921 King's Regs. R.A.F. 8 The ranks of Warrant Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, and men of the Royal Air Force..are as follows..Non-Commissioned Officers. Flight Sergeant. Sergeant. Corporal. Men in the Ranks. Leading Aircraftman. Aircraftman.
1924 Amer. Mercury Dec. 462/2 The non-commissioned officer, the ‘back-bone of the army’, has come into his own.
1994 Daily Tel. 26 Aug. 7/7 A romantic friendship with a non-commissioned aircraftswoman might have brought him true love but convention prevented their marriage.
2. Of a ship: not put in commission.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > hostilities at sea > administration and ceremonial > [adjective] > in commission > not
non-commissioneda1817
society > travel > travel by water > launching a vessel > [adjective] > commissioned > decommissioned or non-commissioned
non-commissioneda1817
uncommissioned1822
decommissioned1929
a1817 J. Austen Persuasion (1818) III. viii. 154 Captain Wentworth could not deny himself the pleasure of taking the precious volume into his own hands to save them the trouble, and once more read aloud the little statement of her name and rate, and present non-commissioned class. View more context for this quotation
1892 Dict. National Biogr. XXXII. 305/2 This merchantman was, in the first instance, condemned as a prize of the Victory, but the judgment was reversed, and having been captured by a non-commissioned ship she was eventually condemned as a droit of admiralty.
1964 Mississippi Valley Hist. Rev. 50 740 Major changes are the inclusion of the names on noncommissioned ships and craft in the alphabetical section [etc.].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1648