beginning

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the act of starting something

   I was responsible for the beginning of negotiations.

2. 2
   noun

   the first part or section of something

   `It was a dark and stormy night' is a hackneyed beginning for a story

3. 3
   noun

   the event consisting of the start of something

   the beginning of the war

4. 4
   noun

   the place where something begins, where it springs into being

   the Italian beginning of the Renaissance

5. 5
   noun

   That which begins or originates something; the source or first cause.

   What was the beginning of the dispute?

6. 6
   noun

   The initial portion of some extended thing.

   The author describes the main character’s youth at the beginning of the story.

7. 7
   verb

   present participle and gerund of begin

   He is beginning to read a new book.

8. 8
   adj

   Being the first portion of some extended thing.

   in the beginning paragraph of the chapter

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.