commencement

English

Etymology

From French commencement; analyzable as commence +‎ -ment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈmɛnsmənt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: com‧mence‧ment

Noun

commencement (countable and uncountable, plural commencements)

1. The first existence of anything; act or fact of commencing

   The time of Henry VII nearly coincides with the commencement of what is termed modern history.

   Synonyms: rise, origin, beginning, start, dawn

   • 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.

2. The day when degrees are conferred by colleges and universities upon students and others.
3. A graduation ceremony, from a school, college or university.

Coordinate terms

• (graduation ceremony): convocation

Related terms

• commence

Translations

an act of commencing or beginning

• Arabic: فاتِحَة f (fātiḥa)
• Armenian: սկիզբ (hy) (skizb)
• Dutch: aanvang (nl) m
• Finnish: alku (fi), aloitus (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: ōrokotīmatanga, tīmatanga
• Portuguese: começo (pt) m, início (pt) m
• Russian: нача́ло (ru) n (načálo)
• Sanskrit: आद (sa) m (āda)
• Spanish: inicio (es) m, incoación (es) f, comienzo (es) m

day degrees are conferred

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 学位授予日

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

graduation ceremony

• Dutch: afsluitceremonie f
• Finnish: valmistujaisseremonia, promootio (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Malay: majlis penyampaian
• Mandarin: 毕业典礼 (zh) (bìyè diǎnlǐ)
• Portuguese: formatura (pt) f

References

• “commencement”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

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French

Etymology

(deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French comencement, corresponding to commencer +‎ -ment

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.mɑ̃s.mɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

commencement m (plural commencements)

1. beginning, start

Further reading

• “commencement”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Middle French

Etymology

(deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French comencement, corresponding to commencer +‎ -ment

Noun

commencement m (plural commencemens)

1. beginning, start