begin
pronunciation
How to pronounce begin in British English:
UK [bɪˈɡɪn]
How to pronounce begin in American English:
US [bɪˈɡɪn]
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- Verb:
- take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
- have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense
- set in motion, cause to start
- begin to speak or say
- be the first item or point, constitute the beginning or start, come first in a series
- have a beginning, of a temporal event
- have a beginning characterized in some specified way
- begin an event that is implied and limited by the nature or inherent function of the direct object
- achieve or accomplish in the least degree, usually used in the negative
- begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language
Word Origin
- begin
- begin: [OE] Begin comes from a prehistoric West Germanic compound verb *biginnan, which also produced German and Dutch beginnen; the origin of the second element, *ginnan, is not known for certain. The form gin was common in the Middle Ages and up until about 1600; this was a shortening, perhaps not so much of begin as of the now obsolete ongin ‘begin’, which was far more widespread than begin in Old English.
- begin (v.)
- Old English beginnan "to begin, attempt, undertake," a rare word beside the more usual form onginnan (class III strong verb; past tense ongann, past participle ongunnen); from bi- (see be-) + West Germanic *ginnan, of obscure meaning and found only in compounds, perhaps "to open, open up" (compare Old High German in-ginnan "to cut open, open up," also "begin, undertake"), with sense evolution from "open" to "begin." Cognates elsewhere in Germanic include Old Frisian biginna "to begin," Middle Dutch beghinnen, Old High German beginnan, German beginnen, Old Frisian bijenna "to begin," Gothic duginnan.
Example
- 1. Now we begin the form .
- 2. Their dreams begin to clot .
- 3. Are you ready to begin ?
- 4. How did that story begin ?
- 5. Your extraction should instantly begin .