BEGINNING

beginning, start, commencement

(noun) the act of starting something; “he was responsible for the beginning of negotiations”

beginning

(noun) the first part or section of something; “‘It was a dark and stormy night’ is a hackneyed beginning for a story”

beginning

(noun) the event consisting of the start of something; “the beginning of the war”

beginning, origin, root, rootage, source

(noun) the place where something begins, where it springs into being; “the Italian beginning of the Renaissance”; “Jupiter was the origin of the radiation”; “Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River”; “communism’s Russian root”

beginning, commencement, first, outset, get-go, start, kickoff, starting time, showtime, offset

(noun) the time at which something is supposed to begin; “they got an early start”; “she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her”

BEGIN

begin, lead off, start, commence

(verb) set in motion, cause to start; “The U.S. started a war in the Middle East”; “The Iraqis began hostilities”; “begin a new chapter in your life”

begin

(verb) begin to speak or say; “‘Now listen, friends’, he began”

begin

(verb) begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language; “She began Russian at an early age”; “We started French in fourth grade”

begin

(verb) achieve or accomplish in the least degree, usually used in the negative; “This economic measure doesn’t even begin to deal with the problem of inflation”; “You cannot even begin to understand the problem we had to deal with during the war”

begin, start

(verb) begin an event that is implied and limited by the nature or inherent function of the direct object; “begin a cigar”; “She started the soup while it was still hot”; “We started physics in 10th grade”

begin, start

(verb) have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense; “The DMZ begins right over the hill”; “The second movement begins after the Allegro”; “Prices for these homes start at $250,000”

begin, start

(verb) have a beginning characterized in some specified way; “The novel begins with a murder”; “My property begins with the three maple trees”; “Her day begins with a workout”; “The semester begins with a convocation ceremony”

begin

(verb) have a beginning, of a temporal event; “WW II began in 1939 when Hitler marched into Poland”; “The company’s Asia tour begins next month”

begin

(verb) be the first item or point, constitute the beginning or start, come first in a series; “The number ‘one’ begins the sequence”; “A terrible murder begins the novel”; “The convocation ceremony officially begins the semester”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Noun

beginning (countable and uncountable, plural beginnings)

(uncountable) The act of doing that which begins anything; commencement of an action, state, or space of time; entrance into being or upon a course; the first act, effort, or state of a succession of acts or states.

That which is begun; a rudiment or element.

That which begins or originates something; the source or first cause.

The initial portion of some extended thing.

Usage notes

"In the beginning" is an idiomatic expression that means "at first, initially"; it does not mean the same as "at the beginning".

The meaning of "at the beginning" is clear from its parts. This expression is used to refer to the time when or place where something starts; it is used to refer to points in time and space and also to fairly long periods of time and fairly large extents of space. ("At the beginning of the story" can be used to refer to both the first few sentences and to the first chapter or chapters. "At the beginning of the trail" can be used to refer to both the first few meters and the first part of a trail, which can be quite substantial, even a fifth or fourth or more.)

The originally rare and traditionally deprecated usage of "in the beginning of" (instead of "at the beginning of") has become more common but is still ignored by most dictionaries and other authorities or labeled as unidiomatic or incorrect. Interestingly, there is only rarely confusion between the parallel expressions "in the end" and "at the end (of)".

Synonyms

• (act of doing that which begins anything): commencing, start, starting

• (that which is begun; rudiment or element): element, embryo, rudiment

• (that which begins or originates something): origin, source, start, commencement

• (initial portion of some extended thing): head, start

Antonyms

• (act of doing that which begins anything): conclusion, end

Etymology 2

Verb

beginning

present participle of begin

Adjective

beginning (not comparable)

(informal) Of or relating to the first portion of some extended thing.

Synonyms

• first

• initial

Source: Wiktionary

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Be*gin"ning, n.

1. The act of doing that which begins anything; commencement of an action, state, or space of time; entrance into being or upon a course; the first act, effort, or state of a succession of acts or states. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Gen. i. 1.

2. That which begins or originates something; the first cause; origin; source. I am . . . the beginning and the ending. Rev. i. 8.

3. That which is begun; a rudiment or element. Mighty things from small beginnings grow. Dryden.

4. Enterprise. "To hinder our beginnings." Shak.

Syn.

– Inception; prelude; opening; threshold; origin; outset; foundation.

BEGIN

Be*gin", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Began, Begun; p. pr. & vb. n. Beginning.] Etym: [AS. beginnan (akin to OS. biginnan, D. & G. beginnen, OHG. biginnan, Goth., du-ginnan, Sw. begynna, Dan. begynde); pref. be- + an assumed ginnan. sq. root31. See Gin to begin.]

1. To have or commence an independent or first existence; to take rise; to commence. Vast chain of being! which from God began. Pope.

2. To do the first act or the first part of an action; to enter upon or commence something new, as a new form or state of being, or course of action; to take the first step; to start. "Tears began to flow." Dryden. When I begin, I will also make an end. 1 Sam. iii. 12.

Be*gin", v. t.

1. To enter on; to commence. Ye nymphs of Solyma ! begin the song. Pope.

2. To trace or lay the foundation of; to make or place a beginning of. The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us to the knowledge of God. Locke.

Syn.

– To commence; originate; set about; start.

Be*gin", n.

Definition: Beginning. [Poetic & Obs.] Spenser.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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