commence
[kuh-mens]
- to begin; start.
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Origin of commence
Synonyms
See more synonyms for commence on Thesaurus.comoriginate, inaugurate.
Synonym study
See begin.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for commence
Contemporary Examples
But in order to commence rebuilding them from the ground up, the world must first put out the fires of this current epidemic.
However, only days before early voting was to commence, a local judge ordered the polling station open.
Led by Johan van Griensven, the study will commence in Guinea in the next three weeks.
It builds to a masquerade ball, in which Not Harry and the women don masks and commence flirting.
This weekend, the battle will commence when the “Moms” and their allies demonstrate outside the NRA Convention in Indianapolis.
Historical Examples
The office has come to me unsought; I commence its duties untrammeled.
In the mean time, the slaughter was about to commence on the other side.
The Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, Oregon and CaliforniaBrevet Col. J.C. Fremont
At four in the morning, we would turn out, and commence our work.
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
O, when will the reign of perfect charity, that "thinketh no evil," commence!
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. IIFrancis Augustus Cox
I never give up what I once commence, and I never fail in what I undertake!
Night and Morning, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
commence
- to start or begin; come or cause to come into being, operation, etc
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French comencer, from Vulgar Latin cominitiāre (unattested), from Latin com- (intensive) + initiāre to begin, from initium a beginning
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for commence
v.
c.1300, from Old French comencier "to begin, start" (10c., Modern French commencer), from Vulgar Latin *cominitiare, originally "to initiate as priest, consecrate," from Latin com- "together" (see com-) + initiare "to initiate," from initium (see initial (adj.)). Spelling with double -m- began in French and was established in English by 1500. Related: Commenced; commencing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper