began

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪˈɡæn/
• IPA^(key): /bɪˈɡæn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æn
• Hyphenation: be‧gan

Verb

began

1. simple past of begin
2. (obsolete) past participle of begin

Derived terms

• beganst

Anagrams

• Bange, abeng, benga

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Middle Dutch

Verb

began

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

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Old English

Etymology

From 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

   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 and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “begān”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.