| / English Dictionary |
BEGINNING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of starting something
Example:
he was responsible for the beginning of negotiations
Synonyms:
beginning; commencement; start
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("beginning" is a kind of...):
change of state (the act of changing something into something different in essential characteristics)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beginning"):
startup (the act of setting in operation)
scrum; scrummage ((rugby) the method of beginning play in which the forwards of each team crouch side by side with locked arms; play starts when the ball is thrown in between them and the two sides compete for possession)
recommencement; resumption (beginning again)
kickoff ((football) a kick from the center of the field to start a football game or to resume it after a score)
jump ball ((basketball) the way play begins or resumes when possession is disputed; an official tosses the ball up between two players who jump in an effort to tap it to a teammate)
installation; installing; installment; instalment (the act of installing something (as equipment))
creation; foundation; founding; initiation; innovation; instauration; institution; introduction; origination (the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new)
inauguration; startup (the act of starting a new operation or practice)
icebreaker (a beginning that relaxes a tense or formal atmosphere)
housing start (the act of starting to construct a house)
groundbreaking; groundbreaking ceremony (the ceremonial breaking of the ground to formally begin a construction project)
first step; initiative; opening; opening move (the first of a series of actions)
face-off ((ice hockey) the method of starting play; a referee drops the puck between two opposing players)
debut; entry; first appearance; introduction; launching; unveiling (the act of beginning something new)
constitution; establishment; formation; organisation; organization (the act of forming or establishing something)
attack; tone-beginning (a decisive manner of beginning a musical tone or phrase)
activation (making active and effective (as a bomb))
jumping-off point; point of departure; springboard (a beginning from which an enterprise is launched)
Instance hyponyms:
Creation ((theology) God's act of bringing the universe into existence)
Derivation:
begin (take the first step or steps in carrying out an action)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The first part or section of something
Example:
'It was a dark and stormy night' is a hackneyed beginning for a story
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("beginning" is a kind of...):
division; part; section (one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole)
Antonym:
end (a final part or section)
middle (an intermediate part or section)
Derivation:
begin (be the first item or point, constitute the beginning or start, come first in a series)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The event consisting of the start of something
Example:
the beginning of the war
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("beginning" is a kind of...):
happening; natural event; occurrence; occurrent (an event that happens)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beginning"):
conception; creation (the event that occurred at the beginning of something)
start (the beginning of anything)
emergence; growth; outgrowth (the gradual beginning or coming forth)
ground floor (becoming part of a venture at the beginning (regarded as position of advantage))
generation; genesis (a coming into being)
inception; origin; origination (an event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events)
egress; emergence; issue (the becoming visible)
casus belli (an event used to justify starting a war)
Antonym:
ending (event whose occurrence ends something)
Derivation:
begin (set in motion, cause to start)
Sense 4
Meaning:
The place where something begins, where it springs into being
Example:
communism's Russian root
Synonyms:
beginning; origin; root; rootage; source
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Hypernyms ("beginning" is a kind of...):
point (the precise location of something; a spatially limited location)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beginning"):
trail head; trailhead (the beginning of a trail)
point source (a concentrated source (especially of radiation or pollution) that is spatially constricted)
home (place where something began and flourished)
birthplace; cradle; place of origin; provenance; provenience (where something originated or was nurtured in its early existence)
jumping-off place; point of departure (a place from which an enterprise or expedition is launched)
wellhead; wellspring (the source of water for a well)
headwater (the source of a river)
fountainhead; head; headspring (the source of water from which a stream arises)
spring (a point at which water issues forth)
derivation (the source or origin from which something derives (i.e. comes or issues))
Sense 5
Meaning:
The time at which something is supposed to begin
Example:
she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her
Synonyms:
beginning; commencement; first; get-go; kickoff; offset; outset; showtime; start; starting time
Classified under:
Nouns denoting time and temporal relations
Hypernyms ("beginning" is a kind of...):
point; point in time (an instant of time)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beginning"):
birth (the time when something begins (especially life))
incipience; incipiency (beginning to exist or to be apparent)
starting point; terminus a quo (earliest limiting point)
threshold (the starting point for a new state or experience)
Antonym:
end (the point in time at which something ends)
middle (time between the beginning and the end of a temporal period)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Serving to begin
Example:
the first verse
Synonyms:
beginning; first
Classified under:
Similar:
opening (first or beginning)
III. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb begin
Context examples:
The date of the beginning of the first ever occurrence of heart failure.
(Date of First Ever Onset of Heart Failure, NCI Thesaurus)
The date of the beginning of the first ever occurrence of the symptom complex of angina pectoris.
(Date of First Ever Onset of Angina Pectoris, NCI Thesaurus)
It is a potent inducer of cytokines and is beginning Phase II trials in combination with chemotherapy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
(CyA 246, NCI Thesaurus)
A characterization of the relationship of an concomitant medication use beginning point in time to a reference point in time.
(Concomitant Medication Use Start Relative to Reference Period, NCI Thesaurus)
A decrease of the greatest rate of flow that can be achieved during forced expiration beginning with the lungs fully inflated.
(Decreased Peak Expiratory Flowrate, Food and Drug Administration)
A quantity of time that should elapse between when an activity is ready for execution and the actual beginning of the execution.
(Defined Composition Relationship Pause Quantity, NCI Thesaurus)
The length of time from the beginning to the end of a single uterine contraction during the labor and childbirth process.
(Duration of Uterine Contraction, NCI Thesaurus)
The cells, viruses, or bacteria may be resistant to the drug at the beginning of treatment, or may become resistant after being exposed to the drug.
(Drug resistance, NCI Dictionary)
In the beginning, your dentist may want to see you often to make sure the dentures fit.
(Dentures, NIH: National Institute on Aging)
A point in time that indicates the beginning of concomitant medication usage.
(Concomitant Medication Start Timepoint, NCI Thesaurus)
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
