begin

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Begin

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English beginnen, from Old English beginnan (“to begin”), from Proto-Germanic *biginnaną (“to begin”), from a base verb *ginnaną also found in Old English onginnan, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to take”).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /bɪˈɡɪn/, /bəˈɡɪn/, /biˈɡɪn/
  • Audio (UK)
    		(file)
  • Audio (US)
    		(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪn

Verb[edit]

begin (third-person singular simple present begins, present participle beginning, simple past began, past participle begun)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To start, to initiate or take the first step into something.
    I began playing the piano at the age of five.   Now that everyone is here, we should begin the presentation.
    • (Can we date this quote?) John Locke
      The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us to the knowledge of God.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Alexander Pope
      Ye nymphs of Solyma! begin the song.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda.
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 5, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.
    • 2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29:
      Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia.
  2. (intransitive) To be in the first stage of some situation
    The program begins at 9 o'clock on the dot.    I rushed to get to class on time, but the lesson had already begun.
  3. (intransitive) To come into existence.

Synonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

begin (plural begins)

  1. (nonstandard) Beginning; start.

References[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle Dutch begin. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun[edit]

begin n (uncountable, diminutive beginnetje n)

  1. start, beginning
Synonyms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb[edit]

begin

  1. first-person singular present indicative of beginnen
  2. imperative of beginnen

Anagrams[edit]

Middle Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

EB1911 - Volume 01 - Page 001 - 1.svg This entry lacks etymological information. If you are familiar with the origin of this term, please add it to the page per etymology instructions. You can also discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.

Noun[edit]

begin n

  1. beginning, start
  2. origin, source

Inflection[edit]

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • “beghin (I)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
  • “begin”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

Volapük[edit]

Noun[edit]

begin (plural begins)

  1. beginning

Declension[edit]

declension of begin
singular plural
nominative begin begins
genitive begina beginas
dative begine begines
accusative begini beginis
vocative 1 o begin! o begins!
predicative 2 beginu beginus
  • 1 status as a case is disputed
  • 2 in some later, non-classical Volapük only
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=begin&oldid=51691639"