commence
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
commences,
present (3rd person singular)
-
commenced,
past participle, past
-
commencing
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
See begin.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
commencesimple
-
commencessimple
-
have commencedperfect
-
has commencedperfect
-
am commencingprogressive
-
are commencingprogressive
-
is commencingprogressive
-
have been commencingperfect progressive
-
has been commencingperfect progressive
Past
-
commencedsimple
-
had commencedperfect
-
was commencingprogressive
-
were commencingprogressive
-
had been commencingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of commence
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English commencen, from Anglo-French, Middle French comencer, from unrecorded Vulgar Latin cominitiāre, equivalent to Latin com- com- + initiāre “to begin”; see initiate
Explanation
Commence is a fancy way of saying "begin." Your invitation to a formal wedding might note, "The ceremony will commence at noon." If a congressman wants to start a meeting to vote on an important bill, he might say, "This meeting will begin immediately." Or, he could make the same statement in a more formal way by saying, "This meeting will commence immediately." Interestingly enough, while the word commence means to start, a commencement ceremony marks the end of a college career.
Vocabulary lists containing commence
Bud, Not Buddy
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 1
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List 8
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Canadian convenience-store operator expects to commence the offer around late August and complete the deal by December.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
But the CPS's lawyer said withholding the identities was a "time-limited decision" until "proceedings commence substantively" in the UK.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
"We still consider it very risky for ships to commence transits at this point."
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
Complications commence when a space research vessel smashes into Prodigy Corp.-controlled Bangkok.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
We passed a few sad hours until eleven o’clock, when the trial was to commence.
From "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley
July 6: Boeing commences production on the "North Line" in Everett, Washington, part of a strategy to increase output of the 737 MAX.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
His treatment of the Troll Wall in Norway, Europe’s highest rock face and the cliff Sasha is scaling when the film commences, is a hallucination that turns the world upside down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
Students who test negative for tuberculosis will be allowed to return to campus even after hybrid learning commences.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2026
District Judge Tanya Chutkan, has to decide before the actual trial commences what evidence proffered by the DOJ will be admissible.
From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2024
But before anything interesting can happen, the preaching commences.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
“The solution is not to allow Petitioners to illegally complete the entire ballroom just because they illegally commenced it,” lawyers for the trust wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
The perplexed company contacted the police and investigations commenced.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Structural removal commenced Tuesday and is now 6.5% complete, and there are around 200 people working on the site around the clock.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
That’s changed since last fall, when a historic borrowing spree to fund AI infrastructure commenced.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 24, 2026
The twenty-first game commenced on August 31, and Fischer, playing black, conducted the endgame in stellar fashion; at adjournment it looked as though he could win.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Reports indicate SpaceX is targeting a June listing with trading commencing shortly after.
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
The U.K. plans to launch a new July 2036 gilt via syndication on the week commencing April 13.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
"This project will take significant time and investment. However, we are now commencing this important work," the spokeswoman added.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2026
One kid kicked a football, commencing a mad scramble as a group of friends converged on the object of their delight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2025
It was then that the prosecution began its exam-ination of expert witnesses commencing with the long-suffering Professor Murray, its supposed expert in communism who had proved so inept in his subject during the preparatory examination.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
