commence
/kəˈmɛns/verb
commence is spelled C-O-M-M-E-N-C-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, commence means “To begin, start” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in commence?
| Letters | 8: C-O-M-M-E-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.9 times per million words; the 13,127th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is commence?
Commence appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce commence?
- US /kəˈmɛns/
- Australia /kəˈmens/
Commence has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-commence.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with commence?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as commence from its last stressed vowel (/ɛns/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of commence
- commences present, singular, he/she/it
- commencing participle, present
- commenced participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does commence mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To begin, start.
- 2
To begin, start.
- 3
To begin or start.
At dawn we'll commence to drive.
- 4
To begin to be, or to act as.
- 5
UKdatedTo take a degree at a university.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Commence in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense begin, start:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does commence come from?
From Middle English commencen, comencen (also as contracted comsen, cumsen), from Anglo-Norman comencer, from Vulgar Latin *cominitiāre, formed from Latin com- + initiō (whence English initiate).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).