commence

[kəˈmen(t)s]

/[kəˈmen(t)s]/ verb

The verdict

“commence” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - anfangen, beginnen

Corpus desk

Index DE-commence · commence · German

commence · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for commence
PropertyValue
Headwordcommence
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[kəˈmen(t)s]
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „commence“ im Deutschen

commenceliegt außerhalb der 100.000 häufigsten deutschen Wörter, im Langschwanz technischer, archaischer oder seltener Formen, genau dort, wo Schreibzweifeln zuschlagen.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

commence is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed [kəˈmen(t)s]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "anfangen, beginnen".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for commence, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is commence, spelled C-O-M-M-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    anfangen, beginnen

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how commence appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. "The mackerel fishery commences at the latter end of February, and lasts until the end of June, but it is at its best in the months of April and May."

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "commence"?
"commence" is spelled C-O-M-M-E-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is [kəˈmen(t)s].
What does "commence" mean?
As a verb, "commence" means: anfangen, beginnen
How do you pronounce "commence"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "commence" is [kəˈmen(t)s]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "commence" come from?
"commence" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list