begin
/bɪˈɡɪn/
begin verb: to start, to initiate or take the first step into something.
Verb
begin (third-person singular simple present begins, present participle beginning, simple past began, past participle begun)
- To start, to initiate or take the first step into something.
- I began playing the piano at the age of five.
- Now that everyone is here, we should begin the presentation.
- To come into existence.
- Vast chain of being! which from God began.1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC
Noun
begin (plural begins)
begin meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
begin in Hindi
- to start, to initiate (transitive)
- शुरू करना śurū karnā, शुरू होना śurū honā
begin in Tamil
- to start, to initiate (transitive)
- தொடங்கு toṭaṅku, ஆரம்பி ārampi, புறப்படு puṟappaṭu, கிளம்பு kiḷampu
- to start, begin (intransitive)
- ஆரம்பி ārampi, தொடங்கு toṭaṅku
begin in Marathi
- to start, to initiate (transitive)
- सुरू करणे surū karṇe
- to start, begin (intransitive)
- सुरू होणे surū hoṇe
begin in Urdu
- to start, to initiate (transitive)
- شُرُوع کَرْنا śurū' karnā
More languagesFewer languages
- begin in Bengali
- শুরু করা śuru kora, আরম্ভ করা arombho kora, শুরু হওয়া śuru hōẇa
- begin in Telugu
- ప్రారంభించు prārambhiñcu, ఆరంభించు ārambhiñcu
- begin in Malayalam
- തുടങ്ങുക tuṭaṅṅuka, ആരംഭിക്കുക ārambhikkuka
- begin in Kannada
- ಮೊದಲುಮಾಡು, ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಿಸು, ಆರಂಭಿಸು, ಶುರುಮಾಡು
- begin in Punjabi
- ਲੱਗਣਾ laggaṇā
- begin in Gujarati
- થવું thavũ
- begin in Sanskrit
- प्रारभ् prārabh, धरति dhárati
- begin in Sinhala
- ආරම්භ කරනවා ārambha karanawā
- begin in Assamese
- ধৰ dhor
- begin in Nepali
- लाग्नु lāgnu
- begin in Pashto
- شروع کول šoro' kawəl, پيل کول payl kawəl
- begin in Tagalog
- magumpisa, mag-umpisa, umpisahan, magsimula
- begin in Arabic
- بَدَأَ badaʔa, اِبْتَدَأَ ibtadaʔa, شَرَعَ šaraʕa
- begin in Malay
- mula
- begin in Indonesian
- mulai
- begin in Persian
- آغاز کردن âġâz kardan, شروع کردن šoru' kardan
- begin in Thai
- เริ่ม rə̂əm, เริ่มต้น rə̂əm-dtôn
- begin in Vietnamese
- bắt đầu
- begin in Myanmar
- စ ca.
Examples of begin in a sentence
- The program begins at 9 o’clock on the dot.
- 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...
- 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....
- State begins fouling and UCLA misses a couple of front-end free throws on one-and-ones.2009, Brandon Lang, Stanley Cohen, Beating the Odds: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of a Sports Handicapper, →ISBN:
Synonyms of begin
Antonyms
Forms of begin
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | begins |
| present participle | beginning |
| past | began |
| past participle | begun |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | beginnest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | beganst |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | begannest |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | beginneth |
| Noun | |
| plural | begins |
Origin of begin
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.
Words formed from begin
Words that rhyme with begin
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- chin
- Flynn
- bin
- Quinn
- sin
- tin
- Bryn
- corinne
- inn
- din
- Finn
- grin
- kin
- lin
- linn
- unpin
- Benin
- min
- shin
- violin
- wherein
- within
- akin
- been
- brin
- chin-chin
- hin
- lyn
- mandolin
- whin
- zoom in
- agin
- agrin
- Arabian jasmine
- blin
- djinn
- Douyin
- edge in
- gimme some skin
- glyn
- herein
- jinn
- Karin
- kissing kin
- lecithin
- Nguyen
- nin
Questions about begin
- What does begin mean?
- Begin means to start, to initiate or take the first step into something.
- What is begin in Hindi?
- Begin in Hindi is शुरू करना (śurū karnā), शुरू होना (śurū honā). See Begin meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use begin in a sentence?
- The program begins at 9 o’clock on the dot.
- What part of speech is begin?
- Begin can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce begin?
- Begin is pronounced /bɪˈɡɪn/.
- What is the past tense of begin?
- The past tense of begin is began.
Words near begin in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: begin (page history and authors); ఆరంభించు (Telugu) (page history and authors); begin (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਲੱਗਣਾ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); થવું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); धरति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); ধৰ (Assamese) (page history and authors); लाग्नु (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-to begin.ogg, en-us-begin.ogg.
Cite this entry: “begin.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/begin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.