committee

committee — noun

1. a team of people selected by an organisation to explore problems, form decisions

1.nounB2
Definition

a team of people selected by an organisation to explore problems, form decisions, or give suggestions about a certain issue

Example

The school committee voted to buy new books for the library.

subject + committee + verb (committee as decision-making body)

A committee of five doctors will study the hospital's safety rules.

committee of + [members]

Common collocations
  • sit on a committee
  • serve on a committee
  • form a committee
  • set up a committee
  • committee member
  • committee meeting
  • committee chair
  • joint committee
  • special committee
  • advisory committee
Synonyms
  • board

    usually for a company or organisation that controls policy (board of directors)

  • panel

    a smaller group of experts gathered for a specific purpose, often temporary

  • council

    an elected or appointed governing body with official authority over a wider area

  • commission

    a permanent or long-term body officially appointed to regulate or investigate

Grammar Patterns

committee + singular/plural verb

Usage Note

In American English, committee is almost always treated as singular (the committee meets). In British English, both singular and plural verbs are common (the committee meets / the committee meet).

Common Mistakes

The committee is consisted of ten members.
The committee consists of ten members.
'consist of' is an active verb and cannot be used in the passive voice.
All committee members are meet at the office.
All committee members meet at the office.
'are meet' confuses the main verb with a passive structure.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe a group of people who join together for a shared purpose, but they differ in permanence and authority. A board (e.g., board of directors) is the highest decision-making body of a company or institution, with legal responsibility. A panel is usually a small, temporary group of experts assembled to judge or advise on a single matter, such as a panel of judges. A council is an elected or appointed body with official governing power over a community or organisation, like a city council. A commission is a more formal, often government-appointed body tasked with an ongoing duty, such as a trade commission. A committee is the most general term — it can be temporary or permanent, formal or informal, and its members are typically chosen from within a larger group to handle a specific issue. For example, a school board sets overall policy, while a safety committee simply investigates problems and makes recommendations.

board ↗panel ↗council ↗commission ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • serve on a committee
  • set up a committee
  • committee as a whole

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinAnglo-FrenchEnglish

Committee comes from the past participle of the Anglo-French verb commettre ('to entrust'), which in turn derives from Latin committere ('to commit, entrust'). The -ee suffix originally meant 'a person to whom something has been done' — so a committee was literally 'a person entrusted with a task'. By the 15th century, the word was already being used for a group of people given a shared responsibility.