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Commissar (or sometimes Kommissar) is an English transliteration of the Russian комиссáр (komissar), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration commissar often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and Eastern-bloc armies or to the people's commissars (effectively government ministers), while administrative officers are called commissaries.
The Russian word комисса́р, from French commissaire, was used in Russia for both political and administrative officials. The title has been used in the Soviet Union and in Russia since the time of the emperor Peter the Great (r. 1682–1725).