commence
/kəˈmɛns/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.59 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Here the anthem doth commence:"
- "His heaven commences ere the world be past!"
- "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."
- "Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all."
- "The speeches commenced three days of workshops, seminars, and cultural activities."
- "At dawn we'll commence to drive."
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).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /kəˈmɛns/
- British English: /kəˈmɛns/
Usage
- Intransitive verb
- Transitive verb
- British usage
- Dated