Definitions for Begin
ˈbeɪ gɪnbe·gin

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Begin, Menachem Beginverb

   Israeli statesman (born in Russia) who (as prime minister of Israel) negotiated a peace treaty with Anwar Sadat (then the president of Egypt) (1913-1992)

2. get down, begin, get, start out, start, set about, set out, commenceverb

   take the first step or steps in carrying out an action

   "We began working at dawn"; "Who will start?"; "Get working as soon as the sun rises!"; "The first tourists began to arrive in Cambodia"; "He began early in the day"; "Let's get down to work now"

3. begin, startverb

   have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense

   "The DMZ begins right over the hill"; "The second movement begins after the Allegro"; "Prices for these homes start at $250,000"

4. begin, lead off, start, commenceverb

   set in motion, cause to start

   "The U.S. started a war in the Middle East"; "The Iraqis began hostilities"; "begin a new chapter in your life"

5. beginverb

   begin to speak or say

   "Now listen, friends," he began

6. beginverb

   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"

7. beginverb

   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"

8. begin, startverb

   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"

9. begin, startverb

   begin an event that is implied and limited by the nature or inherent function of the direct object

   "begin a cigar"; "She started the soup while it was still hot"; "We started physics in 10th grade"

10. beginverb

    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"

11. beginverb

    begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language

    "She began Russian at an early age"; "We started French in fourth grade"

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. beginnoun

   beginning; start

2. beginverb

   To start, to initiate or take the first step into something.

3. Etymology: From beginnen, from beginnan, from biginnanan (compare West Frisian begjinne, / beginnen), from ghendhe/o 'to take' (compare genni 'to delve, submerge onself', Latin prehendere 'to grasp, nab', praeda 'prey', zë 'to catch', Ancient Greek chandánein 'to hold, contain')

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. To Beginverb

   1. To do the first act of any thing; to pass from not doing to doing, by the first act.

   Ye nymphs of Solyma, begin the song. Alexander Pope, Messiah.

   They have been awaked, by these awful scenes, to begin religion; and, afterwards, their virtue has improved itself into more refined principles, by divine grace. Isaac Watts.

   2. To trace from any thing as the first ground.

   The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us to the knowledge of God. John Locke.

   3. To begin with. To enter upon; to fall to work upon.

   A lesson which requires so much time to learn, had need be early begun with. Government of the Tongue.

2. To BEGINverb

   I began, or begun; I have begun.

   Etymology: beginnan , Sax. from be, or by to, and gangan, gaan , or gan , to go.

   1. To enter upon something new: applied to persons.

   Begin every day to repent; not that thou shouldst at all defer it; but all that is past ought to seem little to thee, seeing it is so in itself. Begin the next day with the same zeal, fear, and humility, as if thou hadst never begun before. Taylor.

   I’ll sing of heroes and of kings;
   Begin my muse. Abraham Cowley.

   2. To commence any action or state; to do the first act, or first part of an act; to make the first step from not doing to doing.

   They began at the ancient men which were before the house. Ezekiel, ix. 6.

   Of these no more you hear him speak;
   He now begins upon the Greek:
   These rang’d and show’d, shall, in their turns,
   Remain obscure as in their urns. Matthew Prior.

   Beginning from the rural gods, his hand
   Was lib’ral to the pow’rs of high command. John Dryden, Fab.

   Rapt into future times, the bard begun,
   A virgin shall conceive. Alexander Pope, Messiah.

   3. To enter upon existence; as, the world began; the practice began.4. To have its original.

   And thus the hard and stubborn race of man,
   From animated rock and flint began. Richard Blackmore.

   From Nimrod first the savage chase began;
   A mighty hunter, and his game was man. Alexander Pope.

   5. To take rise.

   Judgment must begin at the house of God. 1 Pet. iv. 17.

   The song begun from Jove. Dryden.

   All began,
   All ends in love of God, and love of man. Alexander Pope.

   6. To come into act.

   Now and then a sigh he stole,
   And tears began to flow. Dryden.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Beginverb

   to have or commence an independent or first existence; to take rise; to commence

2. Beginverb

   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

3. Beginverb

   to enter on; to commence

4. Beginverb

   to trace or lay the foundation of; to make or place a beginning of

5. Beginnoun

   beginning

FreebaseRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Begin

   Begin is a Japanese pop group from Ishigaki Island in the Yaeyama Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Their sound contains many elements of traditional Okinawan music, and prominently features the sanshin.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Begin

   be-gin′, v.i. to take rise: to enter on something new: to commence.—v.t. to enter on: to commence (with at, with, upon):—pr.p. begin′ning; pa.t. began′; pa.p. begun′.—ns. Begin′ner, one who begins: one who is beginning to learn or practise anything; Begin′ning, origin or commencement: rudiments—(Spens.) Beginne′.—adj. Begin′ningless. [A.S. beginnan (more usually onginnan), from be, and ginnan, to begin.]

Editors ContributionRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. begin

   To create.

   They did begin ballroom dancing together.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on February 20, 2020  

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. begin

   Song lyrics by begin -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by begin on the Lyrics.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. BEGIN

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Begin is ranked #11839 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Begin surname appeared 2,644 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Begin.
   
   94.7% or 2,504 total occurrences were White.
   1.5% or 42 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
   1.2% or 32 total occurrences were Black.
   1.2% or 32 total occurrences were Asian.
   1% or 27 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   0.2% or 7 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

1. • Achieve
   • Act
   • Be

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Begin' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1375

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Begin' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1933

3. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Begin' in Verbs Frequency: #44

Anagrams for Begin »

1. being

2. binge

How to pronounce Begin?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Begin in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Begin in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Begin in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of Begin in a Sentence

1. H. L. Mencken:

   War will never cease until babies begin to come into the world with larger cerebums and smaller adrenal glands.

2. Henry David Thoreau:

   Life should begin with age and its privileges and accumulations, and end with youth and its capacity to splendidly enjoy such advantages.

3. Shah Asad Rizvi:

   Take a breath, take a stance, don’t rush forward or hold back, close your eyes, and let the mind relax. As anxious feet retreat to the cuddle of melodies, begin the journey of dance and the sacred path

4. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala:

   The budget seeks to protect the average Nigerian and you know that the key is that we focus on diversification of the economy, this budget points to the fact that this country is a non-oil country and I think we want Nigerians to begin to think of the country in that way.

5. Rick Scott:

   I can't begin to tell you how John Bolton's testimony would ultimately play on a final decision but it's relevant, and therefore, I'd like to hear it.

Popularity rank by frequency of use