Commenced
/kəˈmɛnst/
verbIntermediate📊CommonAction
1 meaning1 question
Definitions
1
To begin; to start.
/kəˈmɛnst/
verbneutralIntermediate
Action
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."
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
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).
Word Origin
LanguageOld French
Original meaning
"to begin together"
Base: commence
commenced proceedingscommenced an investigationcommenced work
Common misspellings
commenceedcommensedcomenced
Practice
Usage
10%Spoken
90%Written