beginning









beginning


noun

  1. an act or circumstance of entering upon an action or state: the beginning of hostilities.
  2. the point of time or space at which anything begins: the beginning of the Christian era; the beginning of the route.
  3. the first part: the beginning of the book; the beginning of the month.
  4. Often beginnings. the initial stage or part of anything: the beginnings of science.
  5. origin; source; first cause: A misunderstanding about the rent was the beginning of their quarrel.

adjective

  1. just formed: a beginning company.
  2. first; opening: the beginning chapters of a book.
  3. basic or introductory: beginning Spanish.
  4. learning the fundamentals: a beginning swimmer.

verb (used without object), be·gan, be·gun, be·gin·ning.

  1. to proceed to perform the first or earliest part of some action; commence; start: The story begins with their marriage.
  2. to come into existence; arise; originate: The custom began during the Civil War.

verb (used with object), be·gan, be·gun, be·gin·ning.

  1. to proceed to perform the first or earliest part of (some action): Begin the job tomorrow.
  2. to originate; be the originator of: civic leaders who began the reform movement.
  3. to succeed to the slightest extent in (followed by an infinitive): The money won’t even begin to cover expenses.

noun

  1. a start; commencement
  2. (often plural) a first or early part or stage
  3. the place where or time when something starts
  4. an origin; source

noun

  1. Menachem (məˈnɑːkɪm). 1913–92, Israeli statesman, born in Poland. In Palestine after 1942, he became a leader of the militant Zionists; prime minister of Israel (1977–83); Nobel peace prize jointly with Sadat 1978. In 1979 he concluded the Camp David treaty with Anwar Sadat of Egypt

verb -gins, -ginning, -gan or -gun

  1. to start or cause to start (something or to do something)
  2. to bring or come into being for the first time; arise or originate
  3. to start to say or speak
  4. (used with a negative) to have the least capacity (to do something)he couldn’t begin to compete with her
  5. to begin with in the first place
n.

late 12c., “time when something begins,” from begin. Meaning “act of starting something” is from early 13c. The Old English word was fruma.

v.

Old English beginnan “to begin, attempt, undertake,” a rare word beside the more usual form onginnan (class III strong verb; past tense ongann, past participle ongunnen); from bi- (see be-) + West Germanbic *ginnan, of obscure meaning and found only in compounds, perhaps “to open, open up” (cf. Old High German in-ginnan “to cut open, open up,” also “begin, undertake”), with sense evolution from “open” to “begin.” Cognates elsewhere in Germanic include Old Frisian biginna “to begin,” Middle Dutch beghinnen, Old High German beginnan, German beginnen, Old Frisian bijenna “to begin,” Gothic duginnan.

In addition to the idioms beginning with begin

  • beginning of the end, the
  • begin to see daylight
  • begin to see the light
  • begin with

also see:

  • charity begins at home
  • (begin to) see the light
  • to start (begin) with
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