'Commence' definitions:
Definition of 'commence'
From: WordNet
verb
Take the first step or steps in carrying out an action; "We began working at dawn"; "Who will start?"; "Get working as soon as the sun rises!"; "The first tourists began to arrive in Cambodia"; "He began early in the day"; "Let's get down to work now" [syn: get down, begin, get, start out, start, set about, set out, commence] [ant: end, terminate]
verb
Set in motion, cause to start; "The U.S. started a war in the Middle East"; "The Iraqis began hostilities"; "begin a new chapter in your life" [syn: begin, lead off, start, commence] [ant: end, terminate]
verb
Get off the ground; "Who started this company?"; "We embarked on an exciting enterprise"; "I start my day with a good breakfast"; "We began the new semester"; "The afternoon session begins at 4 PM"; "The blood shed started when the partisans launched a surprise attack" [syn: start, start up, embark on, commence]
Definition of 'Commence'
From: GCIDE
- Commence \Com*mence"\, v. t. To enter upon; to begin; to perform the first act of. [1913 Webster]
- Many a wooer doth commence his suit. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- Note: It is the practice of good writers to use the verbal noun (instead of the infinitive with to) after commence; as, he commenced studying, not he commenced to study. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Commence'
From: GCIDE
- Commence \Com*mence"\ (k[o^]m*m[e^]ns"), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Commenced (k[o^]m*m[e^]nst"); p. pr. & vb. n. Commencing.] [F. commencer, OF. comencier, fr. L. com- + initiare to begin. See Initiate.]
- 1. To have a beginning or origin; to originate; to start; to begin. [1913 Webster]
- Here the anthem doth commence. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- His heaven commences ere the world be past. --Goldsmith. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To begin to be, or to act as. [Archaic] [1913 Webster]
- We commence judges ourselves. --Coleridge. [1913 Webster]
- 3. To take a degree at a university. [Eng.] [1913 Webster]
- I question whether the formality of commencing was used in that age. --Fuller. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'commence'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- arise,
- begin,
- blast away,
- blast off,
- come into being,
- dive in,
- embark,
- embark on,
- embark upon,
- enter,
- enter upon,
- establish,
- fall to,
- get to,
- go ahead,
- head into,
- inaugurate,
- initiate,
- jump off,
- kick off,
- launch,
- lead off,
- open,
- originate,
- pitch in,
- plunge into,
- send off,
- set about,
- set in,
- set out,
- set sail,
- set to,
- start,
- start in,
- start off,
- start out,
- take off,
- take up,
- turn to