What does commis mean?
A commis is a junior or entry-level member of staff, most commonly encountered today in the phrase "commis chef" — an apprentice cook who works under more senior chefs in a professional kitchen, performing basic preparation tasks while learning the trade. The term also appears in hotel and restaurant service for a junior waiter or attendant, sometimes styled commis de cuisine or commis waiter. Borrowed directly from French, where it historically denoted a junior clerk or deputy, the word entered English in the nineteenth century alongside the French brigade system of kitchen organization that many restaurants still follow. Its connotations are humble but aspirational: the commis occupies the lowest skilled rung of the kitchen hierarchy, yet virtually every celebrated chef began there. For readers of food writing and restaurant culture, recognizing the title signals an understanding of how kitchens are structured and how culinary careers begin.
nounA commis is a junior or trainee employee in the hospitality industry, especially an apprentice chef working under senior cooks in a professional kitchen.
- A junior or apprentice chef in a professional kitchen, ranking below chef de partie.
- A junior clerk or assistant in certain service roles, as in a commis waiter in hotel and restaurant service.
"After culinary school, she spent two years as a commis chef, peeling vegetables and learning the discipline of the line."
"The head chef promoted the young commis to demi-chef after a year of steady work on the vegetable station."
"As a commis waiter, he was responsible for clearing plates, refilling water glasses, and supporting the senior servers at dinner service."
The plural is usually left unchanged, following the French original; an anglicized 'commises' appears occasionally but is not standard.
"The kitchen took on three new commis at the start of the season."
Every Michelin-starred chef once started as a commis — the lowest rung of the kitchen ladder, where you spend your days chopping and scrubbing before earning the right to actually cook.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of commis
Commis was borrowed from French, where it originally meant a junior clerk, agent, or deputy entrusted with assisting a superior — ultimately from Latin committere, meaning to entrust or bring together. The same Latin root gave English words such as commission, commissary, committee, and commissar, all carrying the idea of delegated duty. English adopted commis in the nineteenth century, chiefly through hotel and restaurant service, where French terminology dominated; its survival into modern usage rests almost entirely on the title commis chef within the professional kitchen's brigade hierarchy.
How commis is actually used
The word carries a distinctly professional-kitchen register in modern usage; outside of hospitality circles it may be unfamiliar to general readers. In British English it is strongly associated with the brigade de cuisine hierarchy imported from France, where the commis sits near the bottom, above only the plongeur (dishwasher) and kitchen porter. The plural is typically left unchanged (commis), following French practice, though anglicized forms occasionally appear.
Easily confused with commis
A commissary is a store, canteen, or supply facility, while a commis is a junior worker such as an apprentice chef.