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Commence   /kəmˈɛns/   Listen
verb
Commence  v. t.  To enter upon; to begin; to perform the first act of. "Many a wooer doth commence his suit." 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.



Commence  v. i.  (past & past part. commenced; pres. part. commencing)  
1.
To have a beginning or origin; to originate; to start; to begin. "Here the anthem doth commence." "His heaven commences ere the world be past."
2.
To begin to be, or to act as. (Archaic) "We commence judges ourselves."
3.
To take a degree at a university. (Eng.) "I question whether the formality of commencing was used in that age."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Commence" Quotes from Famous Books



... answer that no inquest had been held, or any body found, which could by any possibility be that of the young Englishman. The only alternative appeared to be that he had taken the first opportunity to break all the old ties, and had slipped away to the backwoods or to the States to commence life anew under an altered name. Why he should do this no one professed to know, but that he had done it appeared only too probable from the facts. Hence many a deep growl of righteous anger rose from the brawny smacksmen when Mary with her pale face ...
— The Captain of the Pole-Star and Other Tales • Arthur Conan Doyle

... had for some time been among straggling trees and bushes. And now, again, they rode two and two, up to this place of halting, Arkwright and Ring well knowing that from hence their labours would in truth commence. ...
— Returning Home • Anthony Trollope

... on good authority that Patrick Henry in speaking of Great Britain, as early as 1773, said, 'She will drive us to extremities; no accommodation will take place; hostilities will soon commence, and a desperate and bloody touch ...
— Elsie's Vacation and After Events • Martha Finley

... retrieve losses, and to make his estate an agreeable home, and suitable to his position in life. The mansion, two stories in height, with only four rooms on a floor, was too small to accommodate the visitors who he well knew, might be expected at Mount Vernon, and he had already determined to commence its enlargement with the opening of the spring, as well as the adornment of the grounds around it, and the improvement of his farms. To do this required a large outlay of time and money; and, notwithstanding Washington had an ample fortune for a private gentleman of moderate tastes, ...
— Washington and the American Republic, Vol. 3. • Benson J. Lossing

... Excellency's judgment, either to commence a negotiation for passes for American vessels immediately, or to wait until we can write to Congress, and obtain power to treat with those States, and conclude treaties of commerce with them, when we shall request to commence and conclude the negotiation ...
— The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. I • Various


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