commitment

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act or an instance of committing, especially.
• noun The act of referring a legislative bill to committee.
• noun Official consignment, as to a prison or mental health facility.
• noun A court order authorizing consignment to a prison.
• noun A pledge or obligation, as to follow a certain course of action.
• noun Something pledged, especially an engagement by contract involving financial obligation.
• noun The state of being emotionally or intellectually devoted, as to a belief, a course of action, or another person.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun The act of committing.
• noun A written order of a court directing that some one be confined in prison: formerly more often termed a mittimus.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The act of committing, or putting in charge, keeping, or trust; consignment; esp., the act of committing to prison.
• noun A warrant or order for the imprisonment of a person; -- more frequently termed a mittimus.
• noun The act of referring or intrusting to a committee for consideration and report.
• noun A doing, or perpetration, in a bad sense, as of a crime or blunder; commission.
• noun The act of pledging or engaging; the act of exposing, endangering, or compromising; also, the state of being pledged or engaged.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun The act or an instance of committing, putting in charge, keeping, or trust, especially:
• noun The act of sending a legislative bill to committee for review.
• noun Official consignment sending a person to prison or a mental health institution
• noun Promise or agreement to do something in the future, especially:
• noun Act of assuming a financial obligation at a future date
• noun Being bound emotionally/intellectually to a course of action or to another person/other persons.
• noun Perpetration, in a negative manner, as in a crime or mistake.
• noun State of being pledged or engaged.
• noun The trait of sincerity and focused purpose.
• noun The act of being locked away, such as in an institution for the mentally ill or jail.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action
• noun a message that makes a pledge
• noun an engagement by contract involving financial obligation
• noun the official act of consigning a person to confinement (as in a prison or mental hospital)
• noun the trait of sincere and steadfast fixity of purpose