Commence
/kəˈmɛns/noun
To begin or start something.
Did you know?Commence ultimately contains the Latin root of initiate, linking the ordinary act of starting with the older notion of formally entering or being admitted into something.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ey-
“To go or set out”
Classical Latin
Latin
īre
“To go”
Classical Latin
Latin
inīre
“To enter into or begin; literally, to go in”
Late Latin
Latin
cominitiāre
“To begin, formed with an intensifying com- and initiāre, “to initiate””
12th–13th Century
Old French
comencier
“To begin or start”
14th Century
Anglo-French
comencer
“To begin”
Modern English
English
commence
“To begin or start”