commencement
English edit
Etymology edit
From French commencement; analyzable as commence + -ment.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
commencement (countable and uncountable, plural commencements)
- The first existence of anything; act or fact of commencing; the beginning.
- Synonyms: rise, origin, beginning, start, dawn
- The time of Henry VII nearly coincides with the commencement of what is termed modern history.
- 1800, William Took, View of the Russian empire during the reign of Catharine the Second:
- Yet from the commencement of mining there have been unnoble proprietors of mines, who belonged to the class of merchants.
- 2022 January 12, “Network News: Thousands savour Okehampton visit”, in RAIL, number 948, page 11:
- Commencement of a two-hourly service pattern by GWR marked the return of regular services to Okehampton for the first time since their withdrawal in 1972. There are plans to extend this to hourly.
- The day when degrees are conferred by colleges and universities upon students and others.
- A graduation ceremony, from a school, college or university. Sometimes before the actual graduation.
Coordinate terms edit
- (graduation ceremony): convocation
Related terms edit
Translations edit
an act of commencing or beginning
|
day degrees are conferred
|
graduation ceremony
|
References edit
- “commencement”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “commencement”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
French edit
Etymology edit
From Old French comencement, corresponding to commencer (“to begin”) + -ment.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
commencement m (plural commencements)
Further reading edit
- “commencement”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French edit
Etymology edit
Old French comencement, corresponding to commencer + -ment
Noun edit
commencement m (plural commencemens)