Com·mence v. i. [imp. & p. p. Commenced p. pr. & vb. n. Commencing.]
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.