Com-mĕnçe'1, v. i.
[imp. & p. p. COMMENCED; p. pr. & vb. n. COMMENCING.] [Fr. commencer, Pr. & Sp. comenzar, Pg. começar, It. cominciare, from Lat. com, for con, and initiare, to begin, from initium, a beginning, from inire, to go into, enter, begin, from in and ire, to go.]
Sense 1. To have a first existence or origin; to begin; to originate. “That state that is to commence after this life.” Rogers.
Sense 2. To take the first degree in a university or college.
I question whether the formality of commencing was used in that age. Fuller.
¶ In the usage of good writers, commence is never followed by the infinitive, but by a participle or participial noun instead. At the same time, there is no valid grammatical objection to the use of the infinitive, and the French, from whom we have borrowed this verb, say “commencer à parler,” or “commencer de parler,” according to circumstances. G. P. Marsh.