begin
verb (used without object)
to proceed to perform the first or earliest part of some action; commence; start.
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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
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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:
Write guidance such as “Don’t begin responses by praising the question, idea or plan. Just answer it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
The California Gig Workers Union hopes to begin bargaining by the end of the year, CalMatters reported.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
The hearing had been scheduled to begin at 11:00, but started slightly later.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
At a certain point, the alerts begin to blur together.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
It can begin in one area of the brain and spread to other regions, sometimes sending your muscles into involuntary convulsions.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
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 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 with heat and fat, then add your aromatics, giving them time to soften and bloom.
From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2026
Begin when all the rest who left behind them headlong death in battle or at sea had long ago returned, while he alone still hungered for home and wife.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
The problem, whether in pre-season or when the campaign proper begins, is that results shape narratives.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 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
Open, which begins at the end of the month.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Although overeating might seem like a problem that begins in the stomach, appetite is largely regulated by the brain.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026
It begins pulling the rest of its body through the force field, widening the hole so it can come through.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
In Hamilton County, just north of Indianapolis, officials said Sunday water was beginning to recede as they began recovery efforts across cities in the area.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
As the procession began, Total Eclipse of the Heart could be heard playing on the busy street, as crying fans broke into applause.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Even so, he began rehab, knowing he would miss the entire 1975 season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
He began studying the Tar Pits' relatively understudied reptile and amphibian collections while working there as a Postdoctoral Fellow.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
Clare began to pace, his cloak billowing up behind him each time he swiveled to retrace his steps.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Especially when I realized that what was in the bowl had begun as a five-item farmers market haul, helped along by a few things I already had at home.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
During the same period that Google and DeepMind were navigating their new relationship, a rival lab by the name of OpenAI had begun working on a large language model.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
Now, families of those on board have begun speaking out publicly, describing concerns about mental health and supply issues aboard the aircraft carrier.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
And, as hiring managers have gotten better at catching them, the workers have even begun using AI face-swapping tools to make themselves harder to spot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
“There is no place more delightful than one’s own fireplace,” she read, and nodded in agreement, for the library had begun to get chilly now that afternoon was turning to dusk.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Commander Dave Lee, Royal Navy Parachute Display Team, spent the event parachuting into Pendennis Castle at the beginning of the eclipse.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
“It’s uncommon but not impossible. If someone had asked at the beginning of this summer what shark species we should expect... I would’ve definitely said hammerheads,” Talwar said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
But the company’s AI strategy has faced internal culture clashes and organizational hurdles since the very beginning.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
Cautious Americans are beginning to return following the fighting across the region that morphed into a series of tit-for-tat exchanges.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Starting at the very beginning, I told him everything that had happened, from my first go-around with the monkeys until I had sailed over the rail fence.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
