commencements
Graduation day events
Commencements are beginnings or starting points.
The word appears most often in the context of graduation ceremonies at educational institutions—called commencements because they mark the start of graduates' next chapter rather than an ending: She gave the commencement address at Harvard.
The singular commencement can also mean simply the act of beginning: the commencement of hostilities.
Initiates an action
- originsPoints where things start
- inaugurationsFormal installation ceremonies
- launchesSends off forcefully
- inceptionsActs of beginning
outsets · initiations · openings · dawnings · onsets · introductions · kickoffs · debuts
Formal observances with ritual
- diplomasProof of academic completion
- capsHeadwear or upper limits
- gownsElegant full-length dresses
- valedictoriansHighest academic achievers graduating
speakers · processionals · universities · colleges · convocations · alumni · degrees · mortarboards
Ceremonial repeated practices
- formalitiesConventional procedural requirements
- observancesCustomary practices or ceremonies
- proceedingsSequence of formal events
- solemnitiesSerious ceremonial observances
traditions · rites · pageantry · fanfare · addresses · invocations · benedictions · processions
starts
Initiates an action
- originsPoints where things start
- inaugurationsFormal installation ceremonies
- launchesSends off forcefully
inceptions · outsets · initiations · openings · dawnings · onsets · introductions · kickoffs · debuts · embarking
ceremonies
Formal observances with ritual
valedictorians · speakers · processionals · universities · colleges · convocations · alumni · degrees · mortarboards · tassels
rituals
Ceremonial repeated practices
- formalitiesConventional procedural requirements
- observancesCustomary practices or ceremonies
- proceedingsSequence of formal events
solemnities · traditions · rites · pageantry · fanfare · addresses · invocations · benedictions · processions · dignities
commencementsendings
Concluding portions
conclusions · terminations · finales · finishes · completions
commencementscessations
Acts of ending
stoppages · halts · discontinuations · terminations · suspensions
- commencement speechOration at graduation ceremonies
- commencement speakerOne addressing graduates
- commencement addressFormal graduation ceremony speech
- commencement speechesOrations at degree ceremonies
- commencement ceremonyFormal degree-conferring event
- commencement addressesSpeeches at graduation ceremonies