From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Commence \Com*mence"\ (k[o^]m*m[e^]ns"), verb (used without an object) [imp. & p. p. {Commenced} (k[o^]m*m[e^]nst"); p. pr. & vb. n. {Commencing}.] [F. commencer, OF. comencier, fr. L. com- + initiare to begin. See {Initiate}.]
1. To have a beginning or origin; to originate; to start; to begin.
Here the anthem doth commence. --Shak.
His heaven commences ere the world be past. --Goldsmith.
2. To begin to be, or to act as. [Archaic]
We commence judges ourselves. --Coleridge.
3. To take a degree at a university. [Eng.]
I question whether the formality of commencing was used in that age. --Fuller.
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