commencement

American  

[kuh-mens-muhnt] / kəˈmɛns mənt /

noun

commencements plural

1. an act or instance of commencing; beginning.

   the commencement of hostilities.

2. the ceremony of conferring degrees or granting diplomas at the end of the academic year.

3. the day on which this ceremony takes place.

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commencement British  

/ kəˈmɛnsmənt /

noun

1. the beginning; start

2. 1. a ceremony for the presentation of awards at secondary schools

   2. a ceremony for the conferment of academic degrees

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noncommencement
  noun
• recommencement
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• commencements
  plural

Etymology

Origin of commencement

First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French; equivalent to commence + -ment

Explanation

A commencement is the act of starting out, or blazing a new trail. The suffix -ment makes the word commencement a noun — a thing, an activity, a start. The word can be used for the beginning of anything, from a business meeting to a vacation trip to a marriage. Anything that begins has a moment of commencement. That's why a graduation ceremony is called a commencement — a graduate is embarking on a new life, and the commencement ritual marks the official beginning of that life.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

commencement commencements

Plebes, prohibited from fraternizing with girls, celebrated spring commencement by marching across the walkways and climbing Herndon.

From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026

College graduates recently booed commencement speakers—former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, real-estate executive Gloria Caulfield and music mogul Scott Borchetta—who promoted artificial intelligence as a positive force.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026

New college graduates booed commencement speakers who spoke of the benefits of artificial intelligence during their graduation ceremonies.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 5, 2026

Billie Jean King, 82, received her bachelor’s degree in history from the same school she attended more than 60 years ago and also gave a commencement speech.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026

Three years after Truman’s staging of Rent—and thirty-six years after my own high school graduation—I was asked to give the commencement speech at Truman High.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

“I have presided over 28 commencements as a president and dean, and those ceremonies are about celebrating the graduates and their supporters,” Schapiro wrote in a letter declining the speech.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026

Revolutionary hostilities canceled the commencements of 1774-78 and 1780, but Harvard would not miss a commencement again until 2020.

From New York Times ● May 23, 2024

Graduating USC students are capped at getting eight tickets — often fewer for satellite commencements — and administrators are scrambling to entice angry parents with new attractions as the university moves around traditional celebrations.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2024

Some schools have reached agreements with protesters to end the demonstrations and reduce the possibility of disrupting final exams and commencements.

From Seattle Times ● May 5, 2024

For my final round of commencements as First Lady, I spoke at Jackson State University in Mississippi, another historically black school, using the opportunity to talk about striving for excellence.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Related Words

• convocation
• dawning
• graduation
• initiation
• kickoff
• onset
• outset