different between commencement vs commence

English

Etymology

From French commencement; analyzable as commence +? -ment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??m?nsm?nt/
• Hyphenation: com?mence?ment

Noun

commencement (countable and uncountable, plural commencements)

1. The first existence of anything; act or fact of commencing

   The time of Henry VII nearly coincides with the commencement of what is termed modern history.

   Synonyms: rise, origin, beginning, start, dawn
2. The day when degrees are conferred by colleges and universities upon students and others.
3. A graduation ceremony, from a school, college or university.

Coordinate terms

• (graduation ceremony): convocation

Related terms

• commence

Translations

References

• commencement in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

French

Etymology

Old French comencement, corresponding to commencer +? -ment

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?.m??s.m??/

Noun

commencement m (plural commencements)

1. beginning, start

Further reading

• “commencement” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle French

Etymology

Old French comencement, corresponding to commencer +? -ment

Noun

commencement m (plural commencemens)

1. beginning, start

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