From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
beginning
adj 1: serving to begin; "the beginning canto of the poem"; "the
first verse" [syn: {beginning(a)}, first]
n 1: the event consisting of the start of something; "the
beginning of the war" [ant: conclusion, ending,
finish]
2: 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" [syn: beginning, commencement, first,
outset, get-go, start, kickoff, starting time,
showtime, offset] [ant: end, ending, middle]
3: the first part or section of something; "`It was a dark and
stormy night' is a hackneyed beginning for a story" [ant:
end, middle]
4: 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" [syn:
beginning, origin, root, rootage, source]
5: the act of starting something; "he was responsible for the
beginning of negotiations" [syn: beginning, start,
commencement] [ant: finish, finishing]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Begin \Be*gin"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Began, Begun; p. pr. &
vb. n. Beginning.] [AS. beginnan (akin to OS. biginnan, D.
& G. beginnen, OHG. biginnan, Goth., du-ginnan, Sw. begynna,
Dan. begynde); pref. be- + an assumed ginnan. [root]31. See
Gin to begin.]
1. To have or commence an independent or first existence; to
take rise; to commence.
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Vast chain of being! which from God began. --Pope.
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2. To do the first act or the first part of an action; to
enter upon or commence something new, as a new form or
state of being, or course of action; to take the first
step; to start. "Tears began to flow." --Dryden.
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When I begin, I will also make an end. --1 Sam. iii.
12.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Beginning \Be*gin"ning\, n.
1. 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.
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In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth. --Gen. i. 1.
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2. That which begins or originates something; the first
cause; origin; source.
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I am . . . the beginning and the ending. --Rev. i.
8.
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3. That which is begun; a rudiment or element.
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Mighty things from small beginnings grow. --Dryden.
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4. Enterprise. "To hinder our beginnings." --Shak.
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Syn: Inception; prelude; opening; threshold; origin; outset;
foundation.
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