'committee' originates from French, specifically the word 'comité', ultimately derived from Latin 'committere' (com- 'together' + mittere 'to send/put'), where the sense is of entrusting or putting together.

'committee' changed from Old French 'comité' and Middle French forms into early modern English 'committe(e)' and became the standard modern English word 'committee'.

Initially it referred to the act of entrusting or something entrusted; over time it evolved to mean the group of people entrusted with a task — the modern sense of 'a body appointed to perform a function.'