beginning
noun
- place where something begins
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L334794 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /bɪˈɡɪn.ɪŋ/ / /ˈbɪ.ɡɪ.nɪŋɡ/
adj
Etymology: From Middle English begynnyng, bygynnynge, From Old English *beginnende (attested only as Old English onginnende), from Proto-Germanic *biginnandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *biginnaną (“to begin”), equivalent to begin + -ing.
- Being the first portion of some extended thing.
“in the beginning paragraph of the chapter”
“in the beginning section of the course”
noun
Etymology: From Middle English biginning, beginninge, beginnunge, equivalent to begin + -ing.
- 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.
- That which is begun; a rudiment or element.
- That which begins or originates something; the source or first cause.
“What was the beginning of the dispute?”
- The initial portion of some extended thing.
“The author describes the main character’s youth at the beginning of the story.”
“That house is at the beginning of the street.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English begynnyng, bygynnynge, From Old English *beginnende (attested only as Old English onginnende), from Proto-Germanic *biginnandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *biginnaną (“to begin”), equivalent to begin + -ing.
- present participle and gerund of begin
“He is beginning to read a new book.”
“The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. […] It was nearly eleven o’clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers’ barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one’s eyes ache, the men’s voices grated harshly, and the girls’ faces saddened one.”