Choose the Right Synonym for commence

begin, commence, start, initiate, inaugurate, usher in mean to take the first step in a course, process, or operation. begin, start, and commence are often interchangeable. begin, opposed to end, is the most general. begin a trip began dancing start, opposed to stop, applies especially to first actions, steps, or stages. the work started slowly commence can be more formal or bookish than begin or start. commence firing commenced a conversation initiate implies taking a first step in a process or series that is to continue. initiated diplomatic contacts inaugurate suggests a beginning of some formality or notion of significance. the discovery of penicillin inaugurated a new era in medicine usher in is somewhat less weighty than inaugurate. ushered in a period of economic decline

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 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 "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 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. See More

Recent Examples on the Web Earlier, the company also forecast that the project would commence operation by 2022. — Yessar Rosendar, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2022 The film is set to commence principal photography in London and resume production in Durban, South Africa in July 2022. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 9 May 2022 Her tenure as the infamous murderess (a role canonized by the likes of Gwen Verdon, Ann Reinking, and Liza Minnelli) will commence at the Ambassador Theatre on April 12 and run through June 5. — Chelsey Sanchez, Harper's BAZAAR, 8 Mar. 2022 The season will commence Nov. 24 with the opening of the Winter Forest, a 5,000-square-foot ice rink, and the annual Lighting at the Lake, when Santa illuminates hundreds of thousands of lights around the resort. — Jennifer Kester, Forbes, 4 Nov. 2021 Some of the cargo projects have been slowed by significant PFAS soil remediation work that must be done at the sites before construction can commence. — Elwood Brehmer, Anchorage Daily News, 21 Mar. 2022 Supervisor Dean Preston, who authored the law, said this would be the first time a California city has imposed such a broad warning mandate before evictions can commence. — J.d. Morris, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 Jan. 2022 The announcement of tenders is one of the final steps before construction can commence. — The Associated. Press, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2021 However, that rallying spark requires value statements from policymakers before such projects can commence. — Thomas Bostick, Forbes, 3 Sep. 2021 See More

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.