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COMMENCEMENT
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of starting something
Example:
he was responsible for the beginning of negotiations
Synonyms:
beginning; commencement; start
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("commencement" is a kind of...):
change of state (the act of changing something into something different in essential characteristics)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "commencement"):
startup (the act of setting in operation)
scrum; scrummage ((rugby) the method of beginning play in which the forwards of each team crouch side by side with locked arms; play starts when the ball is thrown in between them and the two sides compete for possession)
recommencement; resumption (beginning again)
kickoff ((football) a kick from the center of the field to start a football game or to resume it after a score)
jump ball ((basketball) the way play begins or resumes when possession is disputed; an official tosses the ball up between two players who jump in an effort to tap it to a teammate)
installation; installing; installment; instalment (the act of installing something (as equipment))
creation; foundation; founding; initiation; innovation; instauration; institution; introduction; origination (the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new)
inauguration; startup (the act of starting a new operation or practice)
icebreaker (a beginning that relaxes a tense or formal atmosphere)
housing start (the act of starting to construct a house)
groundbreaking; groundbreaking ceremony (the ceremonial breaking of the ground to formally begin a construction project)
first step; initiative; opening; opening move (the first of a series of actions)
face-off ((ice hockey) the method of starting play; a referee drops the puck between two opposing players)
debut; entry; first appearance; introduction; launching; unveiling (the act of beginning something new)
constitution; establishment; formation; organisation; organization (the act of forming or establishing something)
attack; tone-beginning (a decisive manner of beginning a musical tone or phrase)
activation (making active and effective (as a bomb))
jumping-off point; point of departure; springboard (a beginning from which an enterprise is launched)
Instance hyponyms:
Creation ((theology) God's act of bringing the universe into existence)
Derivation:
commence (take the first step or steps in carrying out an action)
commence (set in motion, cause to start)
commence (get off the ground)
Sense 2
Meaning:
An academic exercise in which diplomas are conferred
Synonyms:
commencement; commencement ceremony; commencement exercise; graduation; graduation exercise
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("commencement" is a kind of...):
exercise ((usually plural) a ceremony that involves processions and speeches)
Meronyms (parts of "commencement"):
baccalaureate (a farewell sermon to a graduating class at their commencement ceremonies)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The time at which something is supposed to begin
Example:
she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her
Synonyms:
beginning; commencement; first; get-go; kickoff; offset; outset; showtime; start; starting time
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Hypernyms ("commencement" is a kind of...):
point; point in time (an instant of time)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "commencement"):
birth (the time when something begins (especially life))
incipience; incipiency (beginning to exist or to be apparent)
starting point; terminus a quo (earliest limiting point)
threshold (the starting point for a new state or experience)
Context examples:
Sir Thomas received Mr. Yates with all the appearance of cordiality which was due to his own character, but was really as far from pleased with the necessity of the acquaintance as with the manner of its commencement.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
The time fixed for the beginning of their northern tour was now fast approaching, and a fortnight only was wanting of it, when a letter arrived from Mrs. Gardiner, which at once delayed its commencement and curtailed its extent.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
The tickets were theoretically confined to members and their friends, but the latter is an elastic term, and long before eight o'clock, the hour fixed for the commencement of the proceedings, all parts of the Great Hall were tightly packed.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
This was the commencement of a nervous fever which confined me for several months.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
He had lifted his eyes to me at the commencement of my outburst, and followed me complacently until I had done and stood before him breathless and dismayed.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
It was English history: among the readers I observed my acquaintance of the verandah: at the commencement of the lesson, her place had been at the top of the class, but for some error of pronunciation, or some inattention to stops, she was suddenly sent to the very bottom.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
It was consequently necessary to name some other period for the commencement of actual felicity—to have some other point on which her wishes and hopes might be fixed, and by again enjoying the pleasure of anticipation, console herself for the present, and prepare for another disappointment.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
“My name,” said he, “is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, as far as I can understand, little to do with this awful business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the affair.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But this thought, which supported me in the commencement of my career, now serves only to plunge me lower in the dust.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
He then went on to explain that Hindostanee was the language he was himself at present studying; that, as he advanced, he was apt to forget the commencement; that it would assist him greatly to have a pupil with whom he might again and again go over the elements, and so fix them thoroughly in his mind; that his choice had hovered for some time between me and his sisters; but that he had fixed on me because he saw I could sit at a task the longest of the three.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
