different between commence vs organize

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

• organise (British)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French organiser, from Medieval Latin organiz?, from Latin organum (“organ”); see organ.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?????na?z/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?????na?z/
• Hyphenation: or?gan?ize

Verb

organize (third-person singular simple present organizes, present participle organizing, simple past and past participle organized)

1. (transitive) To arrange in working order.
2. (transitive) To constitute in parts, each having a special function, act, office, or relation; to systematize.
   • 1803, William Cranch, Marbury v. Madison

     This original and supreme will organizes the government.

3. (transitive, chiefly used in the past participle) To furnish with organs; to give an organic structure to; to endow with capacity for the functions of life

   • These nobler faculties in the mind of man, […] matter organized could never produce.

4. (transitive, music) To sing in parts.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Busby to this entry?)

5. (transitive, intransitive) To band together into a group or union that can bargain and act collectively; to unionize.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• organize in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• organize in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• agonizer

Portuguese

Verb

organize

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of organizar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of organizar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of organizar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of organizar