begin
verb (used without object)
to proceed to perform the first or earliest part of some action; commence; start.
begin
1 American
[bih-gin]
/ bɪˈgɪn /
verb (used without object)
-
begins,
present (3rd person singular)
-
began,
past
-
begun,
past participle
-
beginning
present participle
-
to proceed to perform the first or earliest part of some action; commence; start.
The story begins with their marriage.
- Antonyms:
- end
-
to come into existence; arise; originate.
The custom began during the Civil War.
verb (used with object)
-
begins,
present (3rd person singular)
-
began,
past
-
begun,
past participle
-
beginning
present participle
-
to proceed to perform the first or earliest part of (some action).
Begin the job tomorrow.
-
to originate; be the originator of.
civic leaders who began the reform movement.
- Synonyms:
- initiate, inaugurate, institute
-
to succeed to the slightest extent in (followed by an infinitive).
The money won't even begin to cover expenses.
Begin
2
American
[bey-gin]
/ ˈbeɪ gɪn /
noun
begin
1
British
/ bɪˈɡɪn /
verb
-
to start or cause to start (something or to do something)
-
to bring or come into being for the first time; arise or originate
-
to start to say or speak
-
(used with a negative) to have the least capacity (to do something)
he couldn't begin to compete with her
-
in the first place
Begin
2
British
/ ˈbɛɡɪn /
noun
begin
Idioms
Synonym Usage
Begin, commence, initiate, start (when followed by noun or gerund) refer to setting into motion or progress something that continues for some time. Begin is the common term: to begin knitting a sweater. Commence is a more formal word, often suggesting a more prolonged or elaborate beginning: to commence proceedings in court. Initiate implies an active and often ingenious first act in a new field: to initiate a new procedure. Start means to make a first move or to set out on a course of action: to start paving a street.
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
beginsimple
-
beginssimple
-
have begunperfect
-
has begunperfect
-
am beginningprogressive
-
are beginningprogressive
-
is beginningprogressive
-
have been beginningperfect progressive
-
has been beginningperfect progressive
Past
-
begansimple
-
had begunperfect
-
was beginningprogressive
-
were beginningprogressive
-
had been beginningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of begin
First recorded before 1000; Middle English beginnen, Old English beginnan, equivalent to be- be- + -ginnan “to begin,” perhaps originally “to open,” akin to yawn
Explanation
To begin is to start. When it begins to snow, every flake looks pretty, drifting gently down from the dark sky. When you begin something, you go ahead with its first part or stage — you can begin the day with a good attitude, or begin a very long book over and over again, always falling asleep before you get to chapter two. You also might begin a journey by lacing up your hiking boots. Things also begin when they have a specific element as a first part, as when a word begins with the letter T.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Required minimum distributions begin at a different age, one that will change again over the next few years.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Such cells might eventually be given to people preventively, before those damaging aggregates begin accumulating.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
At a certain point, the alerts begin to blur together.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
She will begin the second heptathlon session on Friday evening in 10th position, after climbing up the standings with a clearance over 1.83 metres in the high jump.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
The evacuations begin, starting with women, children, the elderly, and the disabled.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Begin with Magic Johnson and Billie Jean King, part of the group that owns the Dodgers and Sparks.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
Begin with Kewpie mayonnaise — richer, silkier, faintly sweet, and unapologetically egg-forward.
From Salon ● Apr. 14, 2026
The latest example is a report from Jefferies titled “From Asimov to the Assembly Line: Humanoid Robots Begin to Clock In.”
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026
Begin Health launched a “daily baby gut health booster” in 2024 for babies up to a year old, said founder Madeline Lauf.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 3, 2026
Begin in the section to your left and, within each section, move from left to right and top to bottom.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
Julian Hoffman’s remarkable new memoir begins with birds: “The sky was a harbor all of a sudden. Wherever you looked, wings furrowed wakes in the air.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
But if there is one clue that begins to illuminate the greatest mystery of the 2026 baseball season, it’s in Skenes’s velocity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Hillman, from Hepi, said while universities were likely to be "breathing a sigh of relief" over the high student numbers, the true picture would only become clear once the new term begins.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Left-hander Eric Lauer, who could be odd man out when the postseason begins, pitches well as Dodgers sweep the Royals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Liz takes my hand, begins feeling along the bones like she knows something about medicine.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
The situation in Qusra began on Sunday when settlers blocked the road to the Palestinian families' gates and cut off their power and water supplies.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Work on the project began last year with the sudden demolition of the East Wing, which used to house the offices of the first lady.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Medicare’s new Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions model, or Access, which began July 5, pays for improvement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Belk's interest in neuroscience began while she was a graduate student in the Department of Computer Science at Stanford Humanities and Sciences.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
He was going to watch the clip another time when an ad began to play.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Plus, he’s already begun generating co-commissions with the New York Philharmonic and L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
It said it had begun its investigation to find out the identities of the two soldiers, and that anyone who is still missing a relative can search for their names in its database, external.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
The process appears to have begun with reactions driven entirely by metals.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
Some have begun building up reserves, while others are already considering leaving because of the risk of shortages.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
When he peeked, the shadows against the wall had begun to move.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
Other experiments are already beginning to explore this new area.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026
Shoppers trying to identify Taylor Farms products themselves have occasionally been advised to look for packaging codes beginning with “TF” or similar letters.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
The committee heard that officials had been working with the farmer after "numerous" inspections, beginning in 2022.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
We enrolled in Affordable Care Act insurance beginning March 1.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
She thought long and hard, collecting her thoughts, before beginning again.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
