commencement
/kəˈmɛnsmənt/
"commencement" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“commencement” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,369 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,369
- frequency rank, English
- 12
- letters
- 17
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The first existence of anything; act or fact of commencing; the beginning.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | commencement |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kəˈmɛnsmənt/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #15,369 |
| Misspellings tracked | 17 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “commencement” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for commencement is 12 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kəˈmɛnsmənt/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,369 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for commencement, with forms such as "ccommencement", "cmomencement", and "comemncement". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French commencement; analyzable as commence + -ment. The correct English form is commencement, spelled C-O-M-M-E-N-C-E-M-E-N-T.
Definition
- 1The first existence of anything; act or fact of commencing; the beginning.
- 2The day when degrees are conferred by colleges and universities upon students and others.
- 3A graduation ceremony, from a school, college or university. Sometimes before the actual graduation.
Etymology
From French commencement; analyzable as commence + -ment.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccommencement,cmomencement,comemncement,comencement,commecnement,commenccement,commenceemnt,commencemennt,commencementt,commencemetn,commencemment,commencemnet,commencmeent,commenecment,commenncement,commnecement,ocmmencement
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of commencement - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "commencement"?
What does "commencement" mean?
What are common misspellings of "commencement"?
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Using “commencement”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-M-M-E-N-C-E-M-E-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kəˈmɛnsmənt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.