commenced
past form of “commence” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
An inflected form of commence · past form.
How often you will meet it
Rank 2,814 of 81,628 words measured. It occurs 22,169 times across 191,625 published chapters — 0.003% of every word in the library.
What it means
verb
- take the first step or steps in carrying out an action also: get down, begin, get, start out, start, set about We began working at dawnWho will start?
- set in motion, cause to start also: begin, lead off, start The U.S. started a war in the Middle EastThe Iraqis began hostilities
- get off the ground also: start, start up, embark on Who started this company?We embarked on an exciting enterprise
commenced in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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About this time I commenced to forget.
Billy Baxter's Letters · William J. Kountz · Chapter 1
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Wall when I got up in the mornin' my trubbles commenced.
Uncle Josh's Punkin Centre Stories · Cal Stewart · Chapter 1
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At this time also he commenced a dramatization of George Eliot's "Silas Marner."
Representative Plays by American Dramatists · Steele MacKaye · Chapter 1
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The Ass, seeing this, broke loose from his halter and commenced prancing about in imitation of the Lapdog.
The Wind and the Sun (Second Parable) · Aesop · Chapter 1
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Soon Pauline left too, and after a brief experience as a private governess, commenced to give visiting lessons in London.
Miss Merivale's Mistake · Henry, Mrs. Clarke · Chapter 1