Begin Meaning
/bɪˈɡɪn/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo start, to initiate or take the first step into something.
verbTo come into existence.
Sentence Examples
Class doesn't begin until eight-thirty.
To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand.
Begin when I give the command.
CEFR Practice Quiz
We should ____ the meeting promptly at nine o'clock this morning.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
What time do you think the show will ____ this Friday evening city?.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English beginnen, from Old English beginnan (“to begin”), from Proto-West Germanic *biginnan, from Proto-Germanic *biginnaną (“to begin”), from be- + base verb *ginnaną also found in Old English onginnan.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The Apoſtle begins our Knowledge in the Creatures, which lead us to the Knowledge of God, if we will make uſe of our Reaſon: [...]"
— a. 1705, John Locke, “An Examination of P[ère] Malebranche’s Opinion of Seeing All Things in God”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC, paragraph 41, page 175:
"Ye Nymphs of Solyma! begin the ſong: / To heav'nly themes ſublimer ſtrains belong."
— 1712 (date written), Alexander Pope, “Messiah. A Sacred Eclogue, in Imitation of Virgil’s Pollio.”, in The Works of Alexander Pope Esq. […], volume I, London: […] J[ohn] and P[aul] Knapton, H. Lintot, J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, and S. Draper, published 1751, →OCLC, page 37, lines 1–2:
"Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 48:
"Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose."
— 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
"As Andrew, in particular, began to work on renovation and improvement, his talk about this began to be peppered with references to 'bodgery' — 'When I look at it, all I see is bodgery, he says recurrently, with a mixture of exclamation and despair."
— 2007, Nicky Gregson, Living with Things: Ridding, Accommodation, Dwelling, page 48:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
We should ____ the meeting promptly at nine o'clock this morning.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
What time do you think the show will ____ this Friday evening city?.