Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Begin
Be-gin′
,Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Began
, Begun
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Beginning
.] [AS.
beginnan
(akin to OS. biginnan
, D. & G. beginnen
, OHG. biginnan
, Goth., du-ginnan
, Sw. begynna
, Dan. begynde
); pref. be-
+ an assumed ginnan
. √31. See Gin
to begin.] 1.
To have or commence an independent or first existence; to take rise; to commence.
Vast chain of being! which from God
began
. Pope.
2.
To do the first act or the first part of an action; to enter upon or commence something new, as a new form or state of being, or course of action; to take the first step; to start.
“Tears began to flow.” Dryden.
When I
begin
, I will also make an end. 1 Sam. iii. 12.
Be-gin′
,Verb.
T.
1.
To enter on; to commence.
Ye nymphs of Solyma !
begin
the song. Pope.
2.
To trace or lay the foundation of; to make or place a beginning of.
The apostle
begins
our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us to the knowledge of God. Locke.
Syn. – To commence; originate; set about; start.
Be-gin′
,Noun.
Beginning.
[Poetic & Obs.]
Spenser.
Webster 1828 Edition
Begin
BEGIN'
,Verb.
I.
1.
To have an original or first existence; to take rise; to commence. As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been since the world began. Luke 1.
Judgment must begin at the house of God. 1 Pet.4.
From Nimrod first the savage race began.
And tears began to flow.
2.
To do the first act; to enter upon something new; to take the first step; as, begin, my muse. Begin every day to repent.
When I begin, I will also make an end. 1 Sam.3.
BEGIN'
v.t. To do the first act of any thing; to enter on; to commence. Ye nymphs of Solyma, begin the song.
And this they begin to do. Gen.11.
2.
To trace from any thing, as the first ground; to lay the foundation. The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us to the knowledge of God.
To begin with, to enter upon first; to use or employ first; as, to begin with the Latin Grammar; to begin business with a small capital.
Definition 2024
Begin
begin
begin
See also: Begin
English
Verb
begin (third-person singular simple present begins, present participle beginning, simple past began, past participle begun)
- (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.
- John Locke (1632-1705)
- The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us to the knowledge of God.
- Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
- 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.
- (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.
- (intransitive) To come into existence.
- Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
- Vast chain of being! which from God began.
- Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
Related terms
Translations
To start, to initiate or take the first step into something.
|
|
of a thing, to be in the first stage of something
Noun
begin (plural begins)
References
- begin in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- begin in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
Statistics
Most common English words before 1923: circumstances · sitting · Christ · #788: begin · wait · laughed · opportunity
Anagrams
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bə.ˈɣɪn/
- Hyphenation: be‧gin
- Rhymes: -ɪn
Noun
begin n (uncountable, diminutive beginnetje n)
Synonyms
Derived terms
Verb
begin
Anagrams
Volapük
Noun
begin (plural begins)
Declension
declension of begin
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | begin | begins |
| genitive | begina | beginas |
| dative | begine | begines |
| accusative | begini | beginis |
| predicative | beginu | beginus |
| vocative | o begin! | o begins! |