begin
verb (used without object)
to proceed to perform the first or earliest part of some action; commence; start.
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rebegins.
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
[bay-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:
On Stóra Dímun, sheep cannot be kept indoors—so large numbers are butchered before the winter storms begin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Presidential hopefuls typically begin putting together exploratory committees soon after the midterms, announce their candidacies after the new year and begin fundraising by midyear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
Goldman economists hold that if central banks begin to loosen policy in late 2027 through 2028, prices will likely increase again as their buying of bullion competes with demand from private investors.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
The CorCal Outcomes trial investigated two different approaches for determining which patients should be advised to begin statin therapy before experiencing a cardiovascular event.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
She cranes her neck a few times looking for Theo, the person who sent her on this errand to begin with, before finally appearing to give up, settling back into her chair.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
By rapidly distributing footage of troops entering the fortress, the military echoed a famous 1982 image showing then-defence minister Ariel Sharon and prime minister Menahem Begin at the same spot.
From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026
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 heat and fat, then add your aromatics, giving them time to soften and bloom.
From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2026
On his ninth try, in 1977, Begin wrested power from the Labor party.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
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
Here Mr. Wasson’s narrative begins to sing, if sometimes operatically.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
However, when the film begins, its characters sincerely think that Godzilla, last seen crumbling to smithereens in the Pacific, is dead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
England's autumn campaign begins against Australia on Sunday.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Leo begins his trip in Uruguay, Latin America's most secular country -- and one of the wealthiest -- where a tight security operation is in place, with some 5,000 police officers and 1,000 soldiers mobilised.
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
My whole family dresses quickly as the sun begins to rise.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
Households lost light and heat, some water supplies also began to fail because they relied on electric pumps.
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026
Unrivaled began touring the country during its second season, starting with a historic soldout game at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
This comes nearly three years after deliveries first began and seven years after Tesla teased the stainless-steel truck that some have compared to a “trapezoid on wheels.”
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
Placed next to her at a dinner party, the Irish historian Roy Foster began telling her how much he liked her novels and was instantly cut short.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Cocky leaned down and began gathering up the broken bits of cup.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
When Cristóbal Tapia de Veer’s ethereal score is playing, “Nuisance Bear” evokes a sacred domain where the cosmic hymn that’s always undergirded it has begun to lose its melody.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
These relics had begun to show up in Beijing’s curio shops almost as soon as the dynasty fell in 1912.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
The researchers have already begun working toward commercialization through their company, Mintech-Bio, with the goal of introducing an initial product as early as the year following the announcement.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026
Don’t give up before you have even begun.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
All my troubles had begun with the miller.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
But it is Monet himself who is primarily responsible for these alternative facts, as he dictated the terms of his life story from the beginning of his public career.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Trump's communications director Steven Cheung called Miller "someone who has been with the President since the very beginning".
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Nunez has said that since the beginning of the high-school protest movement police had acted with "the greatest proportionality".
From Barron's ● Nov. 6, 2026
At the beginning, we were none of us technological visionaries, but I at least had been online for a while, since even before the web itself existed.
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2026
At first we hoped it was the beginning of Mama’s recovery.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
