commencement
com·mence·ment/kəˈmɛnsmənt/noun
commencement is spelled C-O-M-M-E-N-C-E-M-E-N-T: 12 letters and 3 syllables (com·mence·ment). It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, commencement means “The first existence of anything; act or fact of commencing; the beginning” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of commencement is commencements.
How many letters and syllables are in commencement?
| Letters | 12: C-O-M-M-E-N-C-E-M-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: com·mence·ment |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is commencement?
Commencement appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th 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 commencement?
- /kəˈmɛnsmənt/
Commencement has 3 syllables, split com·mence·ment in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-commencement.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of commencement
- commencements plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does commencement mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The first existence of anything; act or fact of commencing; the beginning.
The time of Henry VII nearly coincides with the commencement of what is termed modern history.
- 2
The day when degrees are conferred by colleges and universities upon students and others.
- 3
A graduation ceremony, from a school, college or university. Sometimes before the actual graduation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Commencement in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | commencement |
| Portuguese | começo, início , formatura |
| Spanish | incoación |
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 commencement come from?
From French commencement; analyzable as commence + -ment.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).