beginner

English

Etymology

From Middle English begynner, equivalent to begin +‎ -er. Cognate with West Frisian begjinner (“beginner”), Dutch beginner (“beginner”), Low German begünner (“beginner”), Danish nybegynder (“beginner, novice”, literally “new-beginner”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɪˈɡɪnə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /bəˈɡɪnɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

beginner (plural beginners)

1. Someone who is just starting at something, or has only recently started.

   I'm new to learning Finnish: I'm just a beginner.

2. Someone who sets something in motion.

   The beginner of the games lit the ceremonial torch.

   • 1906 September 8, “Tempering Justice in America; Making it Cruel Abroad: What is being Done in Many Lands to Cure the Criminal”, in The Sun, volume 30, number 205, St. John, New Brunswick, page 13:

     This method, it is thought, stands a very good chance of becoming legalized in Maryland, the State which has some fame for being a beginner of things. Maryland received the first telegraphic message in the world; it had the first electric railway in the world, and formed the first steam railway company in America.

3. (theater) An actor who is present on stage in the first moments of a play.
   • 1949, Walter Macqueen-Pope, Gaiety: Theatre of Enchantment, page 60:

     On the stage, the beginners for the first piece had taken their places — the chorus were there, scared but determined, and in the wings waited Harlequin, in the person of Charles Lyall […]

Synonyms

• (recent starter): amateur, newbie
• See also Thesaurus:beginner

Derived terms

• beginnerish
• beginner slope
• beginner's trap
• begintermediate
• prebeginner

Translations

someone who just recently started — see also fledgling

• Albanian: fillestar (sq) m
• Arabic: مُبْتَدِئ m (mubtadiʔ), مُبْتَدِئَة f (mubtadiʔa)
• Armenian: սկսնակ (hy) (sksnak)
• Basque: hasiberri
• Belarusian: пачатко́вец m (pačatkóvjec), нава́к m (navák), нава́чка f (naváčka), навачо́к m (navačók), навічо́к m (navičók)
• Bengali: নবিস (bn) (nobiś)
• Bulgarian: начина́ещ (bg) m (načináešt), наче́ващ (bg) m (načévašt) нова́к (bg) m (novák)
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: novençà (ca) m, novici (ca) m, novell (ca) m, principiant (ca) m or f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 初學者 / 初学者 (zh) (chūxuézhě), 新手 (zh) (xīnshǒu)

• Czech: nováček m, začátečník (cs) m, začátečnice f
• Danish: begynder (da) c
• Dutch: beginneling (nl) m, beginnelinge (nl) f, beginner (nl) m
• Esperanto: komencanto (eo), novulo (eo)
• Estonian: algaja
• Finnish: aloittelija (fi), keltanokka (fi), mopo (fi), noviisi (fi), vasta-alkaja (fi)
• French: débutant (fr) m, débutante (fr) f
• Galician: principiante (gl) m or f, novato m, novata f
• Georgian: ახალბედა (axalbeda), დამწყები (damc̣q̇ebi)
• German: Anfänger (de) m, Anfängerin (de) f, Neuling (de) m
• Greek: αρχάριος (el) (archários), πρωτάρης (el) m (protáris)
• Hebrew: מַתְחִיל (he) m (matkhíl), טִירוֹן (he) m (tirón)
• Hindi: नौसिखिया (hi) m (nausikhiyā)
• Hungarian: kezdő (hu), újonc (hu)
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} byrjandi (is) m
• Indonesian: pemula (id)
• Italian: principiante (it) m or f, debuttante (it) m or f, novizio (it) m, esordiente (it), novellino (it) m, neofita (it) m or f
• Japanese: ビギナー (ja) (biginā), 新参 (ja) (しんざん, shinzan), 初学者 (ja) (しょがくしゃ, shogakusha), 初心者 (ja) (しょしんしゃ, shoshinsha)
• Kalmyk: эклгч (eklgç)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 초심자(初心者) (ko) (chosimja), 초보자(初步者) (ko) (choboja)
• Ladino: adjami, empesante
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: inceptor, tīrō (la) m
• Latvian: iesācējs m, iesācēja f
• Lithuanian: naujokas m
• Macedonian: почетник m (početnik)
• Malay: please add this translation if you can
• Māori: ihu hūpē, ika tauhou, tauhou
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Nepali: नयाँ (ne) (nayā̃)
• Norman: c'menchant m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nybegynner (no) m

  Nynorsk: nybegynnar m, nybyrjar m

• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: مُبْتَدی (fa) (mobtadi), نُوچِه (fa) (nowče), تازِه‌کار (fa) (tâze-kâr), نُوآموز (fa) (now'âmuz)

• Plautdietsch: Aunfenja m
• Polish: adept (pl) m, adeptka (pl) f, debiutant (pl), nowicjusz (pl) m, nowicjuszka (pl) f, początkujący (pl) m or m pl
• Portuguese: calouro (pt), iniciante (pt), novato (pt) m, principiante (pt)
• Romanian: debutant (ro) m, începător (ro) m, începătoare (ro) f
• Russian: дебюта́нт (ru) m (debjutánt), дебюта́нтка (ru) f (debjutántka), начина́ющий (ru) m (načinájuščij), новичо́к (ru) m (novičók)
• Scottish Gaelic: neach-tòiseachaidh m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: по̀четнӣк m

  Latin: pòčetnīk (sh) m

• Slovak: nováčik m, začiatočník (sk) m, začiatočníčka f
• Slovene: začetnik (sl) m, začetnica (sl) f
• Spanish: bisoño (es) m, novato (es) m, novel (es) m, novicio (es) m, novillo (es) m, principiante (es) m or f
• Swedish: nybörjare (sv) c, novis (sv) c
• Tagalog: singki
• Tajik: навкор (navkor), навомӯз (navomüz), навқалам (navqalam), навшогирд (navšogird), мубтадӣ (mubtadi)
• Thai: มือใหม่ (th) (mʉʉ-mài)
• Tocharian B: ñwetstse
• Turkish: acemi (tr), çaylak (tr), çömez (tr), çöne (dialectal), toy (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: ملازم (mülâzım)

• Ukrainian: початкі́вець m (počatkívecʹ), новачо́к (uk) m (novačók), нова́к (uk) m (novák), нова́чка (uk) f (nováčka)
• Urdu: مُبْتَدی m (mubtadī)
• Vietnamese: người bắt đầu, người mới học
• Volapük: priman (vo) m or f, hipriman m, jipriman (vo) f
• Welsh: dechreuwr (cy) m
• Yiddish: אָנפֿאַנגער (onfanger), אָנהייבער m (onheyber)

someone who sets something in motion

• Dutch: starter (nl) m
• Estonian: alustaja
• Finnish: avaaja (fi), aloittaja (fi), käynnistäjä (fi)
• Romanian: inițiator (ro) m
• Spanish: iniciador (es) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} comenciator, ^{(please verify)} comenciante, ^{(please verify)} initiator, ^{(please verify)} initiante
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} initiator
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} novise m or f
• Volapük: ^{(please verify)} beginan

Further reading

• “beginner”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “beginner”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• benigner, bergenin

Dutch

Etymology

From beginnen +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bəˈɣɪnər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: be‧gin‧ner
• Rhymes: -ɪnər

Noun

beginner m (plural beginners, diminutive beginnertje n)

1. beginner (someone who is just starting something, or has only recently started)

   Hij kan goed schaken voor een beginner. ― He plays chess well for a beginner.

Derived terms

• beginnerscursus
• beginnersgeluk

Anagrams

• Ebringen, Inneberg, beringen