Commence

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /kəˈmɛns/

Definitions

1. To begin or start an activity, process, or event formally or officially
2. To formally initiate an activity, process, or event with recognition while starting an action that signifies the beginning of a notable undertaking
3. To initiate or launch a process, activity, or event in an official manner that marks the start of something significant

Etymology: The verb "commence" carries a quiet reminder that beginning something formally once meant something more hands-on. Its ancestor is the Vulgar Latin verb "*cominitiāre", built from the prefix com- ("together") and "initiō", a beginning or ceremony of starting. The Latin "initiō" is also the source of English "initiate", so the two words are close relatives that took different routes into English. The path ran through Anglo-Norman, the French dialect used by the English ruling class after 1066. Anglo-Norman "comencer" passed into Middle English as "commencen" and "comencen", and speakers also worked it down into shorter forms such as "comsen" and "cumsen". Over the following centuries the spelling settled on the double m and the modern pronunciation with the stress on the second syllable. What makes the verb distinctive is its formal tone. Where "begin" is plain and everyday, "commence" tends to appear in official notices, contracts and ceremonies, where a start needs to sound deliberate and announced.

Synonyms: begin, start, initiate, launch, originate

Antonyms: cease, stop, finish, conclude, terminate