commencement

[ kuh-mens-muh nt ]

/ kəˈmɛns mənt /

an act or instance of commencing; beginning: the commencement of hostilities.

the ceremony of conferring degrees or granting diplomas at the end of the academic year.

the day on which this ceremony takes place.

Origin of commencement

1225–75; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French. See commence, -ment

non·com·mence·ment, noun re·com·mence·ment, noun

You may not remember, but you were our commencement keynote speaker that day at the George Washington University National Center.

An Open Letter to Attorney General Eric Holder: It’s Not About Race |Ron Christie |July 17, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
This power has been seen recently in a host of cancellations of commencement speakers.

Watch What You Say, The New Liberal Power Elite Won’t Tolerate Dissent |Joel Kotkin |June 7, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Kudos to Ex-Mayor Mike, whose Harvard commencement address called for inclusion of more conservatives in higher education.

Bloomberg’s Surprising Harvard Commencement Address Attacks Campus Ideologues |Ron Christie |June 3, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Speaking at the Commencement Ceremony at West Point, he said, “We are winding down our war in Afghanistan,” he said.

As Obama Draws Down, Al Qaeda Grows in Afghanistan |Eli Lake |May 29, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

Of course, this commencement is very different for me—and very special.

Read Jon Favreau’s Full Commencement Address to College of the Holy Cross |Jon Favreau |May 27, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
But this feeling, which supported me in the commencement of my career, now serves only to plunge me lower in the dust.

Frankenstein |Mary Shelley
I hummed softly in her ear the commencement of it, and restored to her the necessary calmness and self-possession.

Louis Spohr's Autobiography |Louis Spohr
Would I see the kingdom of God set up in our groaning world; and would I like to fix a day for its commencement?

A Lamp to the Path |W. K. Tweedie
It made up for his feeling at commencement that he was "out of it."

John Wesley, Jr. |Dan B. Brummitt
It is to be noted that in all the reforming sects of the commencement of the thirteenth century the two sexes were closely united.

Life of St. Francis of Assisi |Paul Sabatier

commencement

/ (kəˈmɛnsmənt) /

the beginning; start