English Explanatory Dictionary

beginning

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The act of doing that which begins anything; commencement of an action, state, or space of time; entrance into being or upon a course; the first act, effort, or state of a succession of acts or states.
  2. That which is begun; a rudiment or element.
  3. That which begins or originates something; the source or first cause.
  4. The initial portion of some extended thing.
verb
  1. present participle and gerund of begin
adj
  1. Being the first portion of some extended thing.

Pronunciation

/bɪˈɡɪn.ɪŋ/ en-us-beginning.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-beginning.wav /ˈbɪ.ɡɪ.nɪŋɡ/

Word forms

beginning beginnings begynnynge

Etymology

From Middle English biginning, beginninge, beginnunge, equivalent to begin + -ing.

Synonyms

beginning birth font fount inauguration initiation launch spring springtime onset origination youth commencing start starting genesis element embryo rudiment origin source commencement head first initial

Antonyms

conclusion end completion finish

Related words

cause the get-go off the bat out of the chute out of the gate

Derived words

a good beginning makes a good ending begincement beginningless beginning of day beginning of the end beginning to end unbeginning
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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