English → Latin
“commence” in Latin
incipiōto begin, to commencelūcēscōto begin to shine; to dawn (growslight)dīlūcēscōto dawn (begin to grow light)illūcēscōto begin to dawn; to begin to light upadvesperāscitto approach eveningcoepīto have begun or started; to begin
The English word commence itself goes back to Latin initium, through *cominitiāre.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
commence v.
INTR.,
To take its commencement, incipere [Vid: To BEGIN]: the combat commences, proelium committitur: hostes acie concurrunt: the war commences, bellum suscipitur: daybreak commences, dies appetit: lucescit: dilucescit: illucescit: evening commences, advesperascit: night commences, nox appetit: TR., incipere: coepisse. inchoare: ordiri: exordiri [SYN. in BEGIN]: to commence speaking, initium dicendi facere, sumere; exordior dicere: to commence after anybody, aliquem excipere: he commenced (his speech) thus, ingressus est sic loqui: Vid: BEGIN.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for commence?
- The usual Latin words for “commence” are incipiō, lūcēscō, dīlūcēscō; also illūcēscō, advesperāscit, coepī. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.