commaterial 
commaterialt (kom-ma-te'ri-al), a. [< com- + 
material.] Consisting of the same matter with 
another thing. 
The beaks in birds arc commaterial with teeth. 
Bacon, Nat. Hist., 707. 
commaterialityt (kom-ma-te-ri-al'i-ti), n. [< 
commaterial + -ity.] The' state of being corn- 
material. 
commatia, Plural of cumulation. 
eominatie, commatical (ko-mat'ik, -i-kal), a. 
[< LL. commaticus, < Gr. xofifiarifAf, < n6[t/ia(--), 
a short clause: see comma.'] 1. Brief; con- 
cise ; having short clauses or sentences. 
[Rare.] 2. In music, relating to a comma. 
Coinmatic temperament, in ttittxic, a system of tuning 
which is based upon a use of commas in determining inter- 
vals. 
domination (ko-mat'i-on), n. ; pi. commatia (-a). 
[Gr. Kofifiariov, dim. of no^tfui, a short clause : see 
comma.] In ane. Or. comedy, a short song in 
trochaic or anapestic verse, in which the leader 
of the chorus bade farewell to the actors as they 
retired from the stage before the parabasis. 
comma-tipped (kom'a-tipt), a. [< comma (ba- 
cillus) + tip + -cd 2 .] Tipped or terminated 
as with a comma : used of a certain species of 
bacillus, the comma bacillus. See cut under 
bacillus. 
commatism (kom'a-tizm), n. [< L. comma(t-), 
a short clause, + -ism.] Briefness; concise- 
ness in writing; shortness or abruptness of 
sentences. [Bare.] 
Commatitm of the style. Horiley, On Hoaea, p. 43. 
commeasurable (ko-mezh'ur-a-bl), a. [< eom- 
+ measurable.] Having or reducible to the 
same measure ; commensurate ; equal. 
A commeamrable grief took as full possession of him as 
joy had done. /. Walton, Donne. 
commeasure (ko-mezh'ur), v. t. ; pret. and pp. 
commeasured, ppr. commeasu-ring. [< com- + 
measure. Cf. commensurate.] To coincide with ; 
be coextensive with. 
Until endurance grow 
Sinew'd with action, and the full-grown will, 
Circled thro 1 all experiences, pure law, 
Commeaeure perfect freedom. Tennyson, ffinone. 
comnieddlet (ko-med'l), v. t. [< cow- + med- 
dle."] To mingle or mix together. 
Religion, O how it is comtnedled with policy ! 
Webster, White Devil, iii. 2. 
comme il faut (kom el fo). [F. : comme = Pi. 
com = OSp. com, Sp. como = OPg. com, Pg. 
como = Olt. com, It. come, as, < L. quo modo, in 
what or which manner (quo, abl. of quis, who, 
which, what; modo, abl. of modus, manner) ; il, 
< L. ille, this; faut, 3d pers. sing. pres. ind. act. 
of falloir, be necessary (must, should, ought), 
an impers. verb, lit. be wanting or lacking, 
orig. identical with faillir, err, miss, fail, < L. 
fatJere, deceive : see who, mode, and/at^, p.] As 
it should be ; according to the rules of good so- 
ciety ; genteel; proper: a French phrase often 
used in English. 
Commelina (kom-e-U'na), n. [NL., named 
from Jan Commelin and nis nephew, Kaspar, 
Dutch botanists of the 17th and 18th centuries.] 
Commelina communis. 
In bot., one of the principal genera of the natu- 
ral order Commelinacece, comprising about 90 
species. Several are cultivated on account of their deli- 
1126 
cate flowers or graceful habit, and the tuberous roots of 
some species are said to be used for food. Also spelled 
CnlHHtt'ttllia. 
Commelinaceae (ko-mel-i-na'se-e), n. pi. [NL., 
< Commelina + -acca:.] A natural order of her- 
baceous endogeris, natives mostly of warm elf- 
mates, recognizable by their three green sepals, 
two or three ephemeral petals, and free ovary 
with a single style ; the spiderworts. They are of 
importance only as ornamental plants, either for their 
flowers or foliage. Tile principal genera are Tradescantia, 
commemorable (kq-mem'o-ra-bl), a. [= It. 
commemorabile, < L. commeniorabilis, < com- 
memorare, commemorate: see commemorate."] 
Worthy to be commemorated; memorable; 
noteworthy. [Bare.] 
commemorate (ko-mem'o-rat), i\ t. ; pret. and 
pp. commemorated, ppr. commemorating. [< L. 
eoiMmemoratux, pp. of commemorare (> It. eoui- 
mcmorare = Sp. conmemorar= Pg. commemorar 
= F. commemorer), < com- (intensive) + memo- 
rare, mention, < memor, mindful : see memory.] 
1 . To preserve the memory of by a solemn act ; 
celebrate with honor and solemnity ; honor, as 
a person or an event, by some act of respect or 
affection, intended to keep him or it in memory. 
We are called upon to commemorate a revolution [1689] 
... as happy in its consequences, as full ... of the 
marks of a Divine contrivance, as any age or country can 
show. Bp. Atterbury, Sermons, I. vii. 
2. To serve as a memento or remembrancer of; 
perpetuate or celebrate the memory of: as, a 
monument commemorating a great battle; a 
book commemorating the services of a philan- 
thropist. = Syn. Observe, Solemnize, etc. See celebrate. 
commemoration (ko-mem-o-ra'shon), it. [= 
F. commemoration = Pr. comemdracio = Sp. 
connwmoracion = Pg. commemoracSo = It. com- 
memorazione, < L. commemoratio(n-), < com- 
memorare, commemorate: see commemorate.] 
1. The act of commemorating or calling to 
remembrance by some solemnity; the act of 
honoring the memory of some person or event 
by solemn celebration : as, the feast of the 
passover among the Israelites was an annual 
commemoration of their deliverance from Egypt. 
The Church of England, though she asked for the Inter- 
cession of no created being, still set apart days for the 
commemoration of some who had done and suffered great 
things for the faith. Macaulay. 
2. Eccles. : (a) In the intercessory prayers of 
the eucharistic office, mention made by name, 
rank, or condition of persons living or departed, 
or of canonized saints ; also, a prayer contain- 
ing such mention: as, the commemoration of 
the living; the commemoration of the departed; 
the commemoration of the saints. See diptych, 
(b) In the services for the canonical hours, a 
brief form, consisting of anthem, versicle, re- 
sponse, and collect, said in honor of God, of a 
saint, or of some biblical or ecclesiastical event : 
in the medieval church in England also called 
a memory, and sometimes a memorial. A com- 
plete service said in honor of a saint was also 
so styled, (c) Parts of the proper service of a 
lesser festival inserted in the service for a 
greater festival when the latter coincides with 
and supersedes the former. commemoration 
day, in the University of Oxford, the day on which the 
annual solemnity in honor of the benefactors of the uni- 
versity is held, when orations are delivered, and prize 
compositions are read in the theater, and honorary de- 
grees conferred upon distinguished persons. It is the con- 
cluding festival of the academic year. 
commemorative (ko-mem'o-ra-tiv), a. [< com- 
memorate + -ire; = Y.commtmoratif,ete.] Per- 
taining to, or serving or intended for, com- 
memoration. 
A sacrifice commemoratiee of Christ's offering up his 
body for us. Hammond, Works, I. 129. 
Over the haven [of Brindisi] rises a commemorative 
column . . . which records, not the dominion of Saint 
Mark, but the restoration of the city by the Protospa- 
tharius Lupus. E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 311. 
commemorator (ko-mem'p-ra-tor), . [LL., < 
L. commemorare, commemorate': see commem- 
orate."] One who commemorates. 
commemoratory (kg - mem ' o - ra - to - ri), a. [< 
commemorate + -ory ; = Sp." conmem oratorio.] 
Serving to preserve the memory of (persons or 
things). Bp. Hooper. 
commemorize (ko-mem'o-riz), v. t. [As com- 
memor-ate + -ize.] To commemorate. [Rare.] 
The late happy and memorable enterprise of the plant- 
ing of that part of America called New England, deserv- 
eth to be commemwized to future posterity. 
N. Morton, New England's Memorial, p. 17. 
comment, >'. >' An old form of common. 
commence (ko-mens'), . ; pret. and pp. com- 
menced, ppr. commencing. [In ME. only in contr. 
commend 
form comseti, cumsf (see comsc) ; < OF. comcnccr, 
vumencer, F. commencer = Pr. comensar = Sp. 
comnnzar = Pg. cumeqar = It. cominciare, Olt. 
comenzare, < ML. *cominitiarc, begin, < L. com-, 
together, + initiarc, begin, < initium, a begin- 
ning: see initiate.] \.intrans. 1. To come into 
existence ; take rise or origin ; first have exis- 
tence ; begin to be. 
Thy nature did commence in sufferance ; time 
Hath made thee hard in 't. Shak., T. of A., iv. 3. 
Ethics and religion differ herein ; that the one is the 
system of human duties commencing from man ; the other, 
from God. Emerson, Nature, p. 69. 
2. To enter a new state or assume a new char- 
acter; begin to be (something different); turn 
to be or become. 
Should he at length, being undone, commence patriot. 
Junius, Letters, July 31, 1771. 
In an evil hour he commenced author, not only sur- 
rounded by his books, but witli the more urgent compan- 
ions of a wife and family. 
/. D Israeli, C'alam. of Auth., I. 50. 
It is ... too common, now-a-days, for young men, di- 
rectly on being made free of a magazine, or of a news- 
paper, to commence word-coiners. 
F. Hall, Mod. Eng., p. 103. 
3. [Tr. ML. incipere, take a doctors' degree, 
lit. begin, commence : a university term.] To 
take a degree, or the first degree, in a univer- 
sity or college. See commencement. 
Then is he held a freshman and a sot, 
And never shall commence. 
Middleton and Dekker, Koaring Girl, iii. 3. 
He [Charles Chauncy] commenced Bachelor of Divinity. 
Hint. Sketch of First Ch. in Boston (1812), p. 211. 
" To commence M. A.," etc., meaning ' ' to take the degree 
of M. A.," etc., lias been a recognized phrase for some 
three centuries at least. F. Hall, False I'hilol., p. 40. 
II. trans. To cause to begin to be ; perform 
the first act of ; enter upon; begin: as, to com- 
mence operations; to commence a suit, action, 
or process in law. 
Like a hungry lion, did commence 
Rough deeds of rage. Shak., 1 Hen. VI., iv. 7. 
Here closed the Tenant of that lonely vale 
His mournful narrative commenced in pain, 
In pain commenced, and ended without peace. 
Wordmrorth, Excursion, iv. 
= Syn. Commence, Begin. In all ordinary uses commence 
is exactly synonymous with begin, which, as a purely Eng- 
lish word, is nearly always preferable, but more especially 
before another verb in the infinitive. 
commencement (ko-mens'ment), n. [< ME. 
commencement (rare'), < OF. (and F.) commence- 
ment (= Pr. comensamens = Sp. comenzamiento 
(obs.) = It. cominciamento), < commencer, com- 
mence, + -ment.] 1. The act or fact of com- 
mencing; beginning; rise; origin; first exis- 
tence; inception. 
And [they] be-gonne freshly vpon hem as it hadde be at 
the comencement. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 219. 
It was a violent commencement. Shak., Othello, I. 3. 
2. In the University of Cambridge, England, 
the day when masters of arts, doctors, ana 
bachelors receive their degrees : so called from 
the fact that the candidate commences master, 
doctor, licentiate, etc., on that day. See com- 
mence, v. i., 3. Hence 3. In American col- 
leges, 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 acad- 
emies and schools of lower grade. Commencement 
day, the day on which degrees are conferred by a college. 
In American colleges it is the last day of the collegiate 
year. 
commencer (ko-men'ser), n. 1. A beginner. 
2f. One taking a college^ ^>y;?, or com- 
mencing bachelor, master, or*ft^^>r; in Amer- 
ican colleges, a member of the senior class after 
the examination for degrees. 
The Corporation, having been informed that the custom 
... for the commencers to have plumbcake is dishonor- 
able to the College . . . and chargeable to the parents of 
the commencers, doe therefore put an end to that custom. 
Kecords of the Corporation of Harvard College, 1693. 
The Corporation with the Tutors shall visit the chambers 
of the comtnencers to see that this law be well observed. 
Peirce, Hist. Harv. Univ., App., p. 137. 
commend (ko-mend'), v. [< ME. commenden, 
comenden (rarely comaunden: see command), 
commend, = F. commender = Sp. comendar, in- 
trust a benefice to, = It. commendare, < L. com- 
me)tdare, intrust to, commend, in ML. changing 
with commandare, command, the two forms, 
though separated in Rom. and Eng., being ety- 
mologically identical: see command, r. ] I. 
trans. 1. To commit; deliver with confidence ; 
intrust or give in charge. 
Father, into thy hands I commeml my spirit. 
Luke xxiii. 4tJ. 
