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1. The event consisting of the start of something
   "the beginning of the war"
    
2. The time at which something is supposed to begin
   - commencement, first, outset, get-go, start, kickoff, starting time, showtime, offset
    
3. The first part or section of something
   "'It was a dark and stormy night' is a hackneyed beginning for a story"
    
4. The place where something begins, where it springs into being
   "the Italian beginning of the Renaissance"
   - origin, root, rootage, source
    
5. The act of starting something
   "he was responsible for the beginning of negotiations"
   - start, commencement

1. Serving to begin
   "the beginning canto of the poem"
   - first

1. Take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
   "We began working at dawn"; "The first tourists began to arrive in Cambodia"; "He began early in the day"
   - get down, get, start out, start, set about, set out, commence
    
2. Have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense
   "The DMZ begins right over the hill"; "The second movement begins after the Allegro"
   - start
    
3. Set in motion, cause to start
   "The Iraqis began hostilities"; "begin a new chapter in your life"
   - lead off, start, commence
    
4. Begin to speak or say
   "Now listen, friends,"
    
5. Be the first item or point, constitute the beginning or start, come first in a series
   "The number 'one' begins the sequence"; "A terrible murder begins the novel"; "The convocation ceremony officially begins the semester"
    
6. Have a beginning, of a temporal event
   "WW II began in 1939 when Hitler marched into Poland"; "The company's Asia tour begins next month"
    
7. Have a beginning characterized in some specified way
   "The novel begins with a murder"; "My property begins with the three maple trees"; "Her day begins with a workout"; "The semester begins with a convocation ceremony"
   - start
    
8. Begin an event that is implied and limited by the nature or inherent function of the direct object
   "begin a cigar"
   - start
    
9. Achieve or accomplish in the least degree, usually used in the negative
   "This economic measure doesn't even begin to deal with the problem of inflation"; "You cannot even begin to understand the problem we had to deal with during the war"
    
10. Begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language
    "She began Russian at an early age"

Derived forms: beginnings

See also: beginner, opening

Type of: accomplish, achieve, act, attain, be, change of state, division, happening, mouth, move, natural event, occurrence, occurrent, part, point, point in time, reach, section, speak, talk, utter, verbalise [Brit], verbalize

Antonym: end, ending, middle

Encyclopedia: Begin Begin, Menachem Begin, Menachem Wolfovitch