BEGINNINGS

Noun

beginnings

plural of beginning

Source: Wiktionary

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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

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