BEGINNINGS
Noun
beginnings
plural of beginning
Source: Wiktionary
BEGINNING
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