Definition of commence
commenced
;commencing
commencer
nounExplore Merriam-Webster
Examples of commence in a Sentence
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
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
“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
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
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
The festivities will commence with a parade.
Their contract commences in January.
The court commenced criminal proceedings.
The country has commenced preparations for war.
Recent Examples of commence from the Web
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Lee died in 1870, as Democrats and ex-Confederates were commencing a wave of terrorist violence that would ultimately reimpose their domination over the Southern states.
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Flights to San Jose, Costa Rica and to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic will commence on Nov. 6.
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Construction has not begun but may commence as early as July, and is expected to finish in late 2018.
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The winless streak commenced on Sept. 16, five days after Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy blanked the White Sox over six innings.
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But after President Obama initiated a thaw, a full-scale tourist invasion commenced.
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The attacks occurred just as Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, was set to commence at sunset Friday.
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Some kind of climatological cataclysm that commenced after an unspecified war has killed all of humankind.
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A number of Republican lawmakers believe that Trump has authority under the Secure Fence Act of 2006 to commence construction on a wall.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'commence'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology 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
Synonym Discussion of commence
COMMENCE Defined for English Language Learners
COMMENCE Defined for Kids
Learn More about commence
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See words that rhyme with commence Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for commence Spanish Central: Translation of commence Nglish: Translation of commence for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of commence for Arabic speakers
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