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definitions

commence

[ kuh-mens ]
/ kəˈmɛns /
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR commence ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with or without object), com·menced, com·menc·ing.

to begin; start.

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RELATED WORDS

initiate, begin, inaugurate, launch, originate, open, arise

Nearby words

  1. commemorate,
  2. commemoration,
  3. commemorative,
  4. commemoratory,
  5. commen,
  6. commencement,
  7. commend,
  8. commendable,
  9. commendam,
  10. commendation

Origin of commence

1250–1300; Middle English commencen < Anglo-French, Middle French comencer < Vulgar Latin *cominitiāre, equivalent to Latin com- com- + initiāre to begin; see initiate
Related forms

Synonym study

See begin.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for commence

British Dictionary definitions for commence

commence

/ (kəˈmɛns) /

verb

to start or begin; come or cause to come into being, operation, etc
Derived Formscommencer, noun

Word Origin for commence

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for commence

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper