Commence

//kəˈmɛns// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To begin, start. intransitive

    "Here the anthem doth commence:"

  2. 2
    take the first step or steps in carrying out an action wordnet
  3. 3
    To begin, start. transitive

    "The speeches commenced three days of workshops, seminars, and cultural activities."

  4. 4
    set in motion, cause to start wordnet
  5. 5
    To begin to be, or to act as. transitive

    "[…] he furnish’d me with a Gun, Cartouch-box, and Powder-horn, &c. and thus accouter’d I commenc’d Soldier."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    get off the ground wordnet
  2. 7
    To take a degree at a university. UK, dated, intransitive

    "[…] I question whether the Formality of Commencing was used in that Age: inclining rather to the negative, that such Distinction of Graduates was then unknown […]"

Synonyms

All synonyms
beginbeginstartariseattemptblast away

Example

More examples

"The conference will commence in due course."

Etymology

From Middle English commencen, comencen (also as contracted comsen, cumsen), from Anglo-Norman comencer, from Vulgar Latin *cominitiāre, formed from Latin com- + initiō (whence English initiate).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.