beginning
Syllables: be·gin·ning/bɪˈɡɪn.ɪŋ/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
India/ˈbɪ.ɡɪ.nɪŋɡ/
beginning 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. Also the present participle and gerund of begin.
Noun
beginning (countable and uncountable, plural beginnings)
- 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.
- Synonyms:
- commencing, start, starting, genesis
- 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?
- Synonyms:
- origin, source, start, commencement
- 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.
Adjective
beginning (not comparable)
- Being the first portion of some extended thing.
- in the beginning paragraph of the chapter
- in the beginning section of the course
Also used as
beginning is also the present participle and gerund of begin.
beginning meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam
beginning in Hindi
- act of doing that which begins anything
- आरम्भ ārambh, प्रारम्भ prārambh
- that which is begun
- आरम्भ ārambh
- that which begins or originates something
- प्रारंभिक prārambhik
- initial portion of some extended thing
- प्रारंभिक prārambhik
beginning in Tamil
- act of doing that which begins anything
- ஆரம்பம் ārampam, ஆதி āti, தொடக்கம் toṭakkam
- that which begins or originates something
- தொடக்கம் toṭakkam
- being to the first portion of something
- தொடக்க toṭakka
beginning in Telugu
- act of doing that which begins anything
- ప్రారంభం prārambhaṁ, మొదలు modalu
- that which begins or originates something
- ప్రారంభం prārambhaṁ, మొదలు modalu
- initial portion of some extended thing
- ప్రారంభం prārambhaṁ, మొదలు modalu
beginning in Malayalam
- act of doing that which begins anything
- തുടക്കം tuṭakkaṁ, ആരംഭം ārambhaṁ
- that which is begun
- തുടക്കം tuṭakkaṁ, ആരംഭം ārambhaṁ
- that which begins or originates something
- തുടക്കം tuṭakkaṁ, ആരംഭം ārambhaṁ
- initial portion of some extended thing
- തുടക്കം tuṭakkaṁ, ആരംഭം ārambhaṁ
More languagesFewer languages
- beginning in Punjabi
- ਸ਼ੁਰੂ śurū
- beginning in Odia
- ଆରମ୍ଭ ārambha
- beginning in Sanskrit
- आद āda, आरम्भ ārambha, आदि ādi
- beginning in Nepali
- सुरुवात
- beginning in Tagalog
- simula, umpisa
- beginning in Arabic
- بِدَايَة bidāya
- beginning in Thai
- การเริ่ม gaan-rə̂əm
- beginning in Vietnamese
- phần đầu, bắt đầu, đầu
- beginning in Myanmar
- ကနဦး ka.na.u:, အစ a.ca., အာဒိ adi.
Examples of beginning in a sentence
- A typical annual water level regime would include a gradual summer drawdown beginning in early May.
- I've made progress, but this is still, in Churchill's phrase, just "the end of the beginning."
- Sir Gerald was moving slower; his wounds were beginning to tell.
Synonyms of beginning
15 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of beginning
| plural | beginnings |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | begynnynge |
Origin of beginning
From Middle English biginning, beginninge, beginnunge, equivalent to begin + -ing.
From Middle English begynnyng, bygynnynge, From Old English *beginnende (attested only as Old English onginnende), from Proto-Germanic *biginnandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *biginnaną (“to begin”), equivalent to begin + -ing.
Words formed from beginning
Phrases with beginning
Questions about beginning
- What does beginning mean?
- Beginning means 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.
- What is beginning in Hindi?
- Beginning in Hindi is आरम्भ (ārambh), प्रारम्भ (prārambh), प्रारंभिक (prārambhik). See Beginning meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is beginning?
- Beginning can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce beginning?
- Beginning is pronounced /bɪˈɡɪn.ɪŋ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of beginning?
- The plural of beginning is beginnings.
Words near beginning in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: beginning (page history and authors); beginning (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-us-beginning.ogg, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-beginning.wav.
Cite this entry: “beginning.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/beginning. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.