began

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, UK) IPA^(key): /bɪˈɡæn/
• (General American, US) IPA^(key): /bɪˈɡæn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æn
• Hyphenation: be‧gan

Verb

began

1. simple past of begin
2. (obsolete) past participle of begin
   • 1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter XI, in Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume IV, London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC, page 285:

     He had no sooner been free from the horror and remorse attending the first few days of Louisa’s accident, no sooner begun to feel himself alive again, than he had began to feel himself, though alive, not at liberty.

Derived terms

• beganst

Anagrams

• Bange, abeng, benga

Middle Dutch

Verb

began

1. first/third-person singular past indicative of beginnen

North Frisian

Alternative forms

• begane (Mooring)
• bigen (Sylt)

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *biginnan.

Pronunciation

• (Föhr-Amrum) IPA^(key): [bəˈɡan]

Verb

began

1. (Föhr-Amrum) to begin, start

Conjugation

Conjugation of began (Föhr-Amrum dialect)

infinitive I	began
infinitive II	(tu) beganen
past participle	begand
imperative singular	began
imperative plural	began’m
	present	past
1st singular	began	begand
2nd singular	beganst	begandst
3rd singular	begant	begand
plural	began	begand
	perfect	pluperfect
1st singular	san begand	wiar begand
2nd singular	beest begand	wiarst begand
3rd singular	as begand	wiar begand
plural	san begand	wiar begand
	future (skel)	future (wel)
1st singular	skal began	wal began
2nd singular	skääl began	wääl began
3rd singular	skal began	wal began
plural	skel began	wel began

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *bigān. Equivalent to be- +‎ gān. Cognate with Old High German bigān.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beˈɡɑːn/

Verb

begān

1. to bego, go over, traverse; get to, come by, fall into
2. to go to, visit, care for, cultivate, affect
   • Se ðe æcer begǽþ. ― He who cultivates land (acre) … a farmer (Ælfc. Gr. 7; Som. 6, 44.)
3. to occupy, inhabit, dwell, surround, besiege, overrun
   • Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church, 1uoting "Circumdederunt me gemitus"

     Dēaþes ġeōmerunga mē beēodon, and helle sārnyssa mē beēodon, and iċ on mīnre ġedrefednysse Drihten clypode, and hē of his hālgan temple mīne stemne ġehyrde.

     The wailing of death surrounded me, and the pains of hell surrounded me, and in my distress I called out to the Lord, and from his holy temple he heard me.

   • Hí ðone búr útan beeódon. ― They surrounded the dwelling outside. (Chr. 755; Th. 83, 26, col. 1)
4. to practise, do, engage in, perform, commit, exercise, attend to, be diligent about, honor, serve, worship, profess; pledge, devote, train oneself
   • He begǽþ unmǽtas ― He commits gluttonies. (Deut. 21, 20)
   • Begá ðé sylfne to árfæstnysse ― Train thyself to godliness. (1 Tim. 4, 7)

Conjugation

Conjugation of begān (irregular)

infinitive	begān	begānne
indicative mood	present tense	past tense
first person singular	begā	beēode
second person singular	begǣst	beēodest
third person singular	begǣþ	beēode
plural	begāþ	beēodon
subjunctive	present tense	past tense
singular	begā	beēode
plural	begān	beēoden
imperative
singular	begā
plural	begāþ
participle	present	past
	begānde	begān

Derived terms

• forebegān
• misbegān
• unbegān

Descendants

• Middle English: bigon, begon
  • English: bego

References

• John R. Clark Hall (1916), “begān”, in A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, New York: Macmillan
• Joseph Bosworth; T. Northcote Toller (1898), “begān”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[2], second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Welsh

Etymology

Borrowed from English beg + -an.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛɡan/

Verb

began (first-person singular present begaf)

1. alternative form of begio (“to beg”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of began

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
began	fegan	megan	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “began”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies