"begin" + "start" + "commence"

doing something new? let us "begin" or "start" this set with these words:

begin

"to take"

• Old English beginnan ("to begin")
  • Proto-West Germanic *biginnan ("to begin")
    • Proto-Germanic *biginnaną ("to begin")
      • bi works like be- in English
      • ginnaną likely from PIE *ghed- ("to take")

start

"to fall"

• Middle English sterten ("to start")
  • Old English styrtan ("to start")
    • Proto-West Germanic *sturtijan ("to startle", "to fall")

commence

"to go in with" (with the "initial" baked in beyond sight)

• Middle English comencen ("to commence")
  • Anglo-Norman comencer ("to commence")
    • Latin cominitiō [com ("with") + initiō ("start")]
      • Latin ineō ("to start")
      • Proto-Italic *en- ("in") + *eō- ("to go")
        • PIE *en- ("in") + PIE *h1ey- ("to go")