commencement

Meanings

1. 1noununcountableformal

   The point at which something starts, especially an official process, event, or period of time.

   Grammar: Usually has no article: the commencement of work, not a commencement of work.

   Patterns

   • the commencement of something
   • on commencement of something

   The commencement of construction was delayed by heavy rain.

   Payment is due on commencement of the contract.

   Students must register before the commencement of the semester.

2. 2nouncountable or uncountableAmerican

   In the United States, the ceremony at which students receive their degrees or diplomas on finishing school or college.

   Grammar: Often used with a possessive or modifier: this year's commencement, the commencement speaker.

   Patterns

   • commencement at somewhere
   • a commencement speaker

   Her parents flew in for commencement on Saturday morning.

   The senator will give the commencement address at the university.

   Rain forced the high school commencement indoors.

Word forms

Common combinations

commencement ceremony

The commencement ceremony lasted nearly three hours.

commencement speaker

The author was chosen as this year's commencement speaker.

date of commencement

The date of commencement has been set for the first of March.

since the commencement of

Visitor numbers have doubled since the commencement of the festival.

commencement exercises

Commencement exercises begin at ten on the main lawn.

Synonyms and how they differ

start

Start is the everyday word and works in any setting, while commencement sounds official and is rarely used in casual speech.

beginning

Beginning is more general and can describe the early part of a story or a life, whereas commencement points to a formal starting moment.

onset

Onset is used for things that arrive unwelcome, such as illness or bad weather, while commencement is neutral and planned.

graduation

Graduation names the act of earning a degree, and in American use commencement is the ceremony that marks it.

Opposites

Word family

commence verb

to begin, in a formal way

commenced adjective

describes something that has already started

commencing adjective

used in dates, as in 'commencing Monday'

Commonly confused: commencement or graduation?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “commencement”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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