commence

com·mence

verb \kə-ˈmen(t)s\

com·mencedcom·menc·ing

Definition of COMMENCE

transitive verb

: to enter upon : begin <commence proceedings>

intransitive verb

1

: to have or make a beginning : start <the meeting will commence soon>

2

chiefly British : to take a degree at a university

— com·menc·er noun

Examples of COMMENCE

1. The festivities will commence with a parade.
2. Their contract commences in January.
3. The court commenced criminal proceedings.
4. The country has commenced preparations for war.
5. Dear God, I thought, I've been infected by an earworm. My friend the Longhair says that's what you call songs that burrow into your head and commence chewing your brains. —Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly, 24 Apr./1 May 2009
6. He thereupon commenced giving me this fantastically boring lecture about how the only reason I want a stuffed chicken is because they look so good in a shop window, and that the moment I received one I'd start dreaming up ways to ditch it. —Douglas Coupland, Generation X, 1991
7. “Why shoot, I thought you wanted to be a lawyer, you've already commenced going to court.” The ladies laughed again. —Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960
8. The policy would commence not only with the limiting of permits for the building of hotels and boats but with supervision—through expert architectural advice—of the construction of these boats and hotels … —William Styron, This Quiet Dust and Other Writings, (1953) 1982
9. I have commenced two letters to send you before this, both of which displeased me before I got half done, and so I tore them up. —Abraham Lincoln, letter, 4 May 1837

Origin of COMMENCE

Middle English comencen, from Anglo-French comencer, from Vulgar Latin *cominitiare, from Latin com- + Late Latin initiare to begin, from Latin, to initiate

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to COMMENCE

Synonyms

begin, embark (on or upon), enter (into or upon), fall (to), get off, kick off, launch, lead off, open, start, strike (into)

Antonyms

conclude, end, finish, terminate

Related Words

create, generate, inaugurate, initiate, innovate, invent, originate; adopt, embrace, take on, take up; establish, father, found, institute, organize, pioneer, set up, spawn; get around (to), get down (to), get round (to)

Near Antonyms

cease, desist, discontinue, halt, knock off, lay off, quit, stop; close, complete; abandon, forsake, leave; abolish, demolish, destroy, exterminate, extinguish, phase out

See Synonym Discussion at begin

Rhymes with COMMENCE

defense, expense, horse sense, incense, nonsense, past tense, sequence, sixth sense