commissie trek, ‖kommissie trek, noun phrase

/kəˈmɪsiˌtrek//kɔˈmisiˌtrek/
Plurals:
commissie treks, ‖commissie trekke/kɔˈmisiˌtrekkə/.
Origin:
Afrikaans, South African Dutch, DutchShow more Afrikaans kommissietrek (from South African Dutch kommissie trek, commissie trek) from Dutch commissie commission, committee + trek party of trekkers (see trek noun sense 6).
historical
A name given to any of three reconnaissance parties sent on ahead of the Great Trek.
1928 E.A. Walker Hist. of S. Afr. 187Three commissie treks went forth to spy out the land: one to the dry and thirsty Dorsteland in the present South-West Africa, another to the Zoutpansberg, the third and best known..through Kaffirland to Natal.
1934 C.P. Swart Supplement to Pettman. 33As a preliminary step they sent three reconnoitring parties, one to Natal.., one to the Transvaal and one to Damaraland. These were the so-called ‘Commissie treks’.
1936 Cambridge Hist. of Brit. Empire VIII. 321Exploring parties rode out to South-West Africa, to the north-eastern Transvaal, and along the coast belt to Natal. These kommissie trekke reported early in 1835.
1948 A. Keppel-Jones S. Afr.: Short Hist. 68While the War of 1835 was being fought some scouting parties, commissie treks, were spying out the land in various directions.
1955 B.B. Burnett Anglicans in Natal 12Piet Uys of Uitenhage had led a Kommissie trek in 1834 to see if there lay a land worth colonising beyond the turbulent Cape Eastern frontier, free of the irksome restraint and ineffectual policies of the British administration.
1963 W.M. Macmillan Bantu, Boer & Briton 200Land-hunger was..at least one motive inspiring the so-called commissie treks.
1973 J. Meintjes Voortrekkers 99Piet Uys..has been mentioned before, having gone on the early ‘Commissie trek’ to Natal to explore the territory and to come to an agreement with Dingane.
1978 T.R.H. Davenport S. Afr.: Mod. Hist. 38An overland kommissie-trek under Piet Uys set off..to examine..the prospects for hunting and for trading with the Africans.
1989 Reader’s Digest Illust. Hist. of S. Afr. 113In 1834..kommissie treks (scouting parties) were secretly dispatched into the interior.
A name given to any of three reconnaissance parties sent on ahead of the Great Trek.
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Commissary General, noun phrasen. phr.Commissioner-General, nounn.
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