Commenced
/kəˈmɛnst/
verbIntermediateCommonGeneral
Meaning
Question
Definitions
1
To begin; to start.
/kəˈmɛnst/
verbneutralIntermediate
General
To begin or start something.
The concert commenced with a fanfare.
💡 Simply: Imagine a race: 'Commence' means the starting gun has fired – the race has begun! It's a fancy way of saying 'start'.
👶 For kids: It means to start something.
More Examples
2
She commenced her studies in September.
How It's Used
Formal Writing
"The meeting commenced at 9:00 AM."
Legal
"The trial commenced yesterday."
From Middle English *commencen, from Old French commencer, from com- "together" + mencier "to begin", ultimately of Germanic origin.
Historically, 'commenced' was more frequently used in formal settings and legal documents.
Memory tip
Think 'commence' as 'come and mence' (begin).
Practice
Base: commence
commenceedcommensedcomenced
Usage
10%Spoken
90%Written