formation vs commencement

formation and commencement both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
formation	Yes	No	No	No
commencement	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, commencement is a hypernym of formation; that is, commencement is a word with a broader meaning than formation:

Other hypernyms of formation include beginning, start.

formation (noun)	commencement (noun)
the act of fabricating something in a particular shape	the act of starting something
the act of forming or establishing something	an academic exercise in which diplomas are conferred
creation by mental activity	the time at which something is supposed to begin
a particular spatial arrangement
an arrangement of people or things acting as a unit
(geology) the geological features of the earth
natural process that causes something to form