commencement

Forms

commencement m (plural commencements)^[1] Old French comencement, also spelled cumencement, comensement and commenchement.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from French commencer + -ment.^[3][4][5] The verb is from Vulgar Latin *cominitiō, made of cum (“with”) and initiō (“to initiate”), which had moved in Late Latin from “to initiate” to “to begin”.^[3][6][5] Old French also had commencence and comensaille in the same sense.^[7]

Cognate with Old Occitan comensamens, Catalan comensament and Italian cominciamento.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1119 in Philippe de Thaon's Comput, in the phrase cumencement de l'an “the beginning of the year”.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

The noun has stayed as common as the verb it comes from and is the ordinary opposite of fin “end”, though it now competes with début.^[6] In the plural, les commencements has meant the first lessons or rudiments of a subject since 1538, when Robert Estienne recorded it.^[3][6] Au commencement “at first, in the beginning” is the usual phrase, and le commencement de la fin “the beginning of the end” is familiar.^[6][7]

English took the word from Old French in the late 13th century; the English sense “ceremony at which degrees are conferred” goes back to the university use of the late 14th century, and the American sense “graduation ceremony” is recorded by 1850.^[9][2]

Timeline

• 1119 – Cumencement appears in Philippe de Thaon's Comput.^[3]
• Late 13th century – English borrows the word from Old French.^[9]
• 1538 – Robert Estienne records the plural in the sense “rudiments”.^[3][6]
• 1850 – American English uses commencement for a graduation ceremony.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. The beginning or first part of something in time or in a process; a start.^[10][3][1]
2. The first part of something in space: le commencement d'une rue.^[3]
3. Au commencement: at first, in the early days; in Biblical style, at the beginning of the world.^[7][8]
4. Le commencement de la fin: the first sign of an end or a decline.^[3][6]
5. (plural) The first stages or rudiments of a subject or an undertaking.^[3][6]

Related words

• commencer
• recommencer
• recommencement
• English commencement

Usage notes

Littré notes that some speakers said ke-man-se-man, and rejects it as a provincialism.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert