Commemoratory
(Com*mem"o*ra*to*ry) a. Serving to commemorate; commemorative. Bp. Hooper.
Commence
(Com*mence") v. i. [imp. & p. p. Commenced ; p. pr. & vb. n. Commencing.] [F. commencer,
OF. comencier, fr. L. com- + initiare to begin. See Initiate.]
1. To have a beginning or origin; to originate; to start; to begin.
Here the anthem doth commence.
Shak.
His heaven commences ere the world be past.
Goldsmith.
2. To begin to be, or to act as. [Archaic]
We commence judges ourselves.
Coleridge.
3. To take a degree at a university. [Eng.]
I question whether the formality of commencing was used in that age.
Fuller.
Commence
(Com*mence"), v. t. To enter upon; to begin; to perform the first act of.
Many a wooer doth commence his suit.
Shak.
It is the practice of good writers to use the verbal noun (instead of the infinitive with to) after commence; as,
he commenced studying, not he commenced to study.
Commencement
(Com*mence"ment) n. [F. commencement.]
1. The first existence of anything; act or fact of commencing; rise; origin; beginning; start.
The time of Henry VII. . . . nearly coincides with the commencement of what is termed "modern history."
Hallam.
2. The day when degrees are conferred by colleges and universities upon students and others.
Commend
(Com*mend") v. t. [imp. & p. p. Commended; p. pr. & vb. n. Commending.] [L. commendare;
com- + mandare to intrust to one's charge, enjoin, command. Cf. Command, Mandate.]
1. To commit, intrust, or give in charge for care or preservation.
His eye commends the leading to his hand.
Shak.
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.
Luke xxiii. 46.
2. To recommend as worthy of confidence or regard; to present as worthy of notice or favorable attention.
Among the objects of knowledge, two especially commend themselves to our contemplation.
Sir M. Hale.
I commend unto you Phebe our sister.
Rom. xvi. 1.
3. To mention with approbation; to praise; as, to commend a person or an act.
Historians commend Alexander for weeping when he read the actions of Achilles.
Dryden.
4. To mention by way of courtesy, implying remembrance and good will. [Archaic]
Commend me to my brother.
Shak.
Commend
(Com*mend"), n.
