Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.