different between commence vs develop

English

Etymology

From Middle English commencen, comencen (also as contracted comsen, cumsen), from Anglo-Norman comencer, cumencer, comencier, from Vulgar Latin *cominiti?, *cominiti?re, formed from Latin com- + initi? (see initiate).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??m?ns/
• Rhymes: -?ns

Verb

commence (third-person singular simple present commences, present participle commencing, simple past and past participle commenced)

1. (intransitive) To begin, start.
   • 1601, William Shakespeare, The Phoenix and the Turtle,^[1]

     Here the anthem doth commence:

   • 1770, Oliver Goldsmith, “The Deserted Village” in The Miscellaneous Works of Oliver Goldsmith, London: W. Griffin, 1775, p. 164,^[2]

     His heaven commences ere the world be past!

   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, Chapter 4,^[3]

     He commenced dressing at top by donning his beaver hat, a very tall one, by the by, and then—still minus his trowsers—he hunted up his boots.
2. (transitive) To begin to be, or to act as.
   • 1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, p. 126,^[4]

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

   • 1825, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Aids to Reflection in the Formation of a Manly Character, London: Taylor & Hessey, Prudential Aphorisms, Aphorism 15, p. 48,^[5]

     When we are wearied of the trouble of prosecuting crimes at the bar, we commence judges ourselves […]

3. (Britain, intransitive, dated) To take a degree at a university.
   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-History of Britain, London: John Williams, The Seventh Century, p. 75,^[6]

     […] 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 […]

   • 1861, George John Gray, Athenae Cantabrigienses: 1586-1609 (page 272)

     […] was admitted a minor fellow of his college 4 Oct. 1591, a major fellow 11 March 1591-2, and commenced M.A. in 1592.

Antonyms

• cease
• stop

Related terms

• commencement
• initiate

Translations

French

Pronunciation

Verb

commence

1. first-person singular present indicative of commencer
2. third-person singular present indicative of commencer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of commencer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of commencer
5. second-person singular imperative of commencer

Louisiana Creole French

Etymology

From French commencer (“to commence”), compare Haitian Creole kòmanse.

Verb

commence

1. to begin, commence

References

• Alcée Fortier, Louisiana Folktales

English

Alternative forms

• develope (archaic)

Etymology

Borrowed from French développer, from Middle French desveloper, from Old French desveloper, from des- + voloper, veloper, vloper (“to wrap, wrap up”) (compare Italian -viluppare, Old Italian alternative form goluppare (“to wrap”)) from Vulgar Latin *vlopp?, *wlopp? (“to wrap”) ultimately from Proto-Germanic *wrappan?, *wlappan? (“to wrap, roll up, turn, wind”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to turn, bend”) [1]. Akin to Middle English wlappen (“to wrap, fold”) (Modern English lap (“to wrap, involve, fold”)), Middle English wrappen (“to wrap”), Middle Dutch lappen (“to wrap up, embrace”), dialectal Danish vravle (“to wind, twist”), Middle Low German wrempen (“to wrinkle, scrunch, distort”), Old English wearp (“warp”). The word acquired its modern meaning from the 17th-century belief that an egg contains the animal in miniature and matures by growing larger and shedding its envelopes.

Pronunciation

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d??v?l.?p/
• (Indian English) IPA^(key): /?d?v.l?p/, /d??v?.l?p/
• Rhymes: -?l?p

Verb

develop (third-person singular simple present develops, present participle developing, simple past and past participle developed or (archaic, rare) developt)

1. (intransitive) To change with a specific direction, progress.

2. (transitive, intransitive) To progress through a sequence of stages.
   • 1868-1869, Robert Owen, Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of Vertebrates

     All insects […] acquire the jointed legs before the wings are fully developed.

3. (transitive) To advance; to further; to promote the growth of.
   • 1881, Benjamin Jowett, Thucydides

     We must develop our own resources to the utmost.

4. (transitive) To create.

5. (transitive) To bring out images latent in photographic film.

6. (transitive) To acquire something usually over a period of time.

7. (chess, transitive) To place one's pieces actively.

8. (snooker, pool) To cause a ball to become more open and available to be played on later. Usually by moving it away from the cushion, or by opening a pack.
9. (mathematics) To change the form of (an algebraic expression, etc.) by executing certain indicated operations without changing the value.

Usage notes

• Objects: plan, software, program, product, story, idea.

Derived terms

• co-develop, codevelop

Related terms

• developing
• development

Translations