be·gin·ning
(bĭ-gĭńĭng)
noun
- The act or process of bringing or being brought into being; a start.
- The time when something begins or is begun: the beginning of the war.
- The place where something begins or is begun: at the beginning of the road.
- A source; an origin: What was the beginning of the dispute?
- The first part: The front matter is at the beginning of the book.
- An early or rudimentary phase. Often used in the plural: the beginnings of human life on this planet.
synonyms:
beginning, birth, dawn, genesis, nascence, rise These nouns denote the initial stage of a developmental process: the beginning of a new era in technology; the birth of generative grammar; the dawn of civilization; the genesis of quantum mechanics; the nascence of classical sculpture; the rise and decline of an ancient city-state.
Antonym: end
be·gin
(bĭ-gĭń)
[Middle English biginnen, from Old English beginnan.]
verb: -gan (-găń), -gun (-gŭń), -gin·ning, -gins.
intransitive verb
- To take the first step in performing an action; start.
- To come into being: when life began.
- To do or accomplish in the least degree: Those measures do not even begin to address the problem.
transitive verb
- To take the first step in doing; start: began work.
- To cause to come into being; originate.
- To come first in: The numeral 1 begins the sequence.
synonyms:
begin, commence, start, initiate, inaugurate These verbs denote coming into being or taking the first step, as in a procedure. Begin, commence, and start are equivalent in meaning, though commence is more formal, and start often stresses the point where inaction turns to action: The play begins at eight o'clock. The festivities commenced with the national anthem. We will stay on the platform until the train starts. Initiate applies to causing the first steps in a process: I initiated a lawsuit against the driver who hit my car. Inaugurate often connotes a formal beginning: “The exhibition inaugurated a new era of cultural relations” (Serge Schmemann)
