Definitions for commence
kəˈmɛnscom·mence

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:2.3 / 3 votes

1. get down, begin, get, start out, start, set about, set out, commenceverb

   take the first step or steps in carrying out an action

   "We began working at dawn"; "Who will start?"; "Get working as soon as the sun rises!"; "The first tourists began to arrive in Cambodia"; "He began early in the day"; "Let's get down to work now"

2. begin, lead off, start, commenceverb

   set in motion, cause to start

   "The U.S. started a war in the Middle East"; "The Iraqis began hostilities"; "begin a new chapter in your life"

3. start, start up, embark on, commenceverb

   get off the ground

   "Who started this company?"; "We embarked on an exciting enterprise"; "I start my day with a good breakfast"; "We began the new semester"; "The afternoon session begins at 4 PM"; "The blood shed started when the partisans launched a surprise attack"

WiktionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 2 votes

1. commenceverb

   To begin, start.

2. Etymology: From commencer, from cominitiare, formed on com- + initiō

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. To Commenceverb

   To begin; to make a beginning of; as to commence a suit.

2. To COMMENCEverb

   Etymology: commencer, French.

   1. To begin; to take beginning.

   Why hath it given me earnest of success,
   Commencing in a truth. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

   Man, conscious of his immortality, cannot be without concern for that state that is to commence after this life. John Rogers.

   2. To take a new character.

   If wit so much from ign’rance undergo,
   Ah! let not learning too commence its foe! Alexander Pope.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. commence

   Commence refers to the act of beginning or starting something. It can describe the initiation of any action, event, or process.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Commenceverb

   to have a beginning or origin; to originate; to start; to begin

2. Commenceverb

   to begin to be, or to act as

3. Commenceverb

   to take a degree at a university

4. Commenceverb

   to enter upon; to begin; to perform the first act of

5. Etymology: [F. commencer, OF. comencier, fr. L. com- + initiare to begin. See Initiate.]

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Commence

   kom-ens′, v.i. to begin: to originate: to take rise.—v.t. to begin: to originate: to enter upon: to take a university degree—e.g. 'to commence M.A.'—n. Commence′ment, the beginning: at certain universities the act of taking the degrees: the ceremony when these are conferred. [O. Fr. comencer—L. com, and initiāre, to begin—in, into, and īre, to go.]

British National Corpus

1. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'commence' in Verbs Frequency: #855

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

1. 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How to pronounce commence?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say commence in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of commence in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of commence in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of commence in a Sentence

1. Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer:

   Because we found a life ring, the assumption can be made that we are searching in the right area, when we commence searching tomorrow morning at sunrise, hopefully we’ll be able to find something else. Every little bit helps.

2. Kishu Gomes:

   We are expecting the recovery to commence. It is too early to say how fast and to what level it will be.

3. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell:

   We are going to have to have a negotiation about how much we are going to spend in discretionary accounts of the government this year. And all of that will commence sometime after this fiscal year, i think the Speaker and myself and the White House are going to have to discuss how to resolve our differences.

4. David Priess:

   Once that ascertainment is made, it does unlock a whole bunch of things. And it presumably the full range of intelligence community support to the transition team up to and including Biden would commence, but that does not unlock The PDB. That's a separate determination.

5. Charles de LEUSSE:

   I love you” begins by I, and ends up by you. ("Je t'aime" commence par Je, - Mais il finit par toi.)

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=commence
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Commence
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=commence
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commence
6. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=commence
7. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=commence