beginning - definition, thesaurus and related words from WordNet-Online

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Adjective beginning has 1 sense

beginning, first - serving to begin; "the beginning canto of the poem"; "the first verse"
Antonym: closing (indirect, via opening)

Noun beginning has 5 senses

beginning - the event consisting of the start of something; "the beginning of the war"
--₁ is a kind of happening, occurrence, natural event
Antonyms: ending, conclusion, finish
--₁ has particulars:
casus belli; emergence, egress, issue; origin, origination, inception; genesis, generation; ground floor; emergence, outgrowth, growth; start; creation, conception

Derived form: verb begin₃
beginning, commencement, first, outset, get-go, start, kickoff, starting time, showtime, offset - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her"
--₂ is a kind of point, point in time
Antonyms: middle, end, ending
--₂ has particulars:
birth; incipiency, incipience; terminus a quo, starting point; threshold
beginning - the first part or section of something; "`It was a dark and stormy night' is a hackneyed beginning for a story"
--₃ is a kind of part, section, division
Antonyms: middle, end

Derived form: verb begin₅

beginning, origin, root, rootage, source - the place where something begins, where it springs into being; "the Italian beginning of the Renaissance"; "Jupiter was the origin of the radiation"; "Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River"; "communism's Russian root"
--₄ is a kind of point
--₄ has particulars:

derivation; spring; fountainhead, headspring, head; headwaters; wellhead, wellspring; jumping-off place, point of departure; birthplace, cradle, place of origin, provenance; home; point source; trail head, trailhead

beginning, start, commencement - the act of starting something; "he was responsible for the beginning of negotiations"
--₅ is a kind of change of state
--₅ has particulars:

Derived form: verb begin₁

Verb begin has 10 senses

get down, begin, get, start out, start, set about, set out, commence - 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"
Antonyms: end, terminate

Derived forms: noun beginner₁, noun beginning₅
Sample sentences:
They begin moving
They begin to move
begin, start - 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"
Antonyms: end, stop, finish, terminate, cease
Sample sentences:
Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Something ----s something
begin, lead off, start, commence - 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"
Antonyms: end, terminate

Derived forms: noun beginner₂, noun beginning₁
Sample sentences:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
begin - begin to speak or say; "Now listen, friends," he began
--₄ is one way to talk, speak, utter, mouth, verbalize, verbalise
Sample sentence:
They won't begin the story
begin - 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 ceremoney officially begins the semester"

Derived form: noun beginning₃
Sample sentence:
Something ----s something
begin - have a beginning, of a temporal event; "WWII began in 1939 when Hitler marched into Poland"; "The company's Asia tour begins next month"
--₆ is one way to be
Sample sentence:
Something is ----ing PP
begin, start - 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 work-out"; "The semester begins with a convocation ceremony"
--₇ is one way to be
Sample sentence:
Something is ----ing PP
begin, start - 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"
--₈ is one way to act, move
Sample sentence:
Somebody ----s something
begin - 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"
--₉ is one way to achieve, accomplish, attain, reach
Sample sentence:
Something ----s something
begin - begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language; "She began Russian at an early age"; "We started French in fourth grade"
Sample sentence:
Somebody ----s something