Commence

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kəˈmÉ›ns/
• Rhymes: -É›ns

Origin

Borrowing from fro commencer, from Vulgar Latin *cominitiō, *cominitiāre, formed on Latin com- + initiō.

Full definition of commence

Verb

1. (intransitive) To begin, start.
• William ShakespeareHere the anthem doth commence.
• Oliver GoldsmithHis heaven commences ere the world be past.
• 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, Mr. Pratt's Patients Chapter 4, Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all.
2. (transitive) To begin to be, or to act as.
• Samuel Taylor ColeridgeWe commence judges ourselves.
3. (UK, intransitive, dated) To take a degree at a university.
• FullerI question whether the formality of commencing was used in that age.

Antonyms

• cease
• stop

Related terms

• commencement