beginning

UK /bᵻˈɡɪn.ɪŋ/ US /bᵻˈɡɪn.ɪŋ/

noun 4adj 1

Definitions

noun

The act of doing that which begins anything; commencement of an action, state, or space of time; entrance into being or upon a course; the first act, effort, or state of a succession of acts or states.

That which is begun; a rudiment or element.

That which begins or originates something; the source or first cause.

What was the beginning of the dispute?

The initial portion of some extended thing.

The author describes the main character’s youth at the beginning of the story.

That house is at the beginning of the street.

adj

Being the first portion of some extended thing.

in the beginning paragraph of the chapter

in the beginning section of the course

Collocations

(noun.)

ADJ

new

After the argument, they decided to give their relationship a new beginning.

VERB + BEGINNING

herald, mark

The discovery of electricity heralded the beginning of countless technological advances.

see

The 1990s marked the beginning of the internet becoming part of everyday life.

PREP

at the ~ (of sth)

The school year starts at the beginning of September.

from the ~

I didn't understand the instructions, so I read them again from the beginning.

in the ~

When I started my new job, the work seemed overwhelming, but in the beginning I made lots of mistakes.

PHRASES

the beginning of the end

When he stopped calling, I knew it was the beginning of the end for our relationship.

early/first beginnings

The company's first beginnings were in a small garage before it became successful.

from beginning to end

I enjoyed the movie from beginning to end and didn't want it to stop.

from humble/modest/small beginnings

The tech startup had humble beginnings in a garage before becoming a global success.

the very beginning

She knew something was wrong from the very beginning of the project.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

noun — the act of starting something

noun — the place where something begins, where it springs into bein

noun — the time at which something is supposed to begin

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

a good beginning makes a good ending

Start off on a good note to reap the benefits at the end.

Example Bank

What was the beginning of the dispute?

Wiktionary

The author describes the main character’s youth at the beginning of the story.

Wiktionary

That house is at the beginning of the street.

Wiktionary

in the beginning paragraph of the chapter

Wiktionary

in the beginning section of the course

Wiktionary

When you're beginning to look like the photo in your passport, you should go on a holiday.

Tatoeba · #1551

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, beginning is marked as informal. Watch for register when choosing this word.

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