commencement

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A beginning; a start.
2. n. A ceremony at which academic degrees or diplomas are conferred.
3. n. The day on which such a ceremony occurs.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act or fact of commencing; beginning; rise; origin; first existence; inception.
2. n. In the University of Cambridge, England, the day when masters of arts, doctors, and bachelors receive their degrees: so called from the fact that the candidate commences master, doctor, licentiate, etc., on that day. See commence, v. i., 3.
3. n. In American colleges, the annual ceremonies with which the members of the graduating class are made bachelors (of arts, sciences, engineering, etc.), and the degree of master of arts and various honorary degrees are conferred. The term is also applied, by extension, to the graduating exercises of academies and schools of lower grade.

Wiktionary

1. n. The first existence of anything; act or fact of commencing; rise; origin; beginning; start.
2. n. The day when degrees are conferred by colleges and universities upon students and others.
3. n. A graduation ceremony, from a school, college or university.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The first existence of anything; act or fact of commencing; rise; origin; beginning; start.
2. n. The day when degrees are conferred by colleges and universities upon students and others.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the time at which something is supposed to begin
2. n. the act of starting something
3. n. an academic exercise in which diplomas are conferred