beginning

noun
be·gin·ning
/bɪˈɡɪn.ɪŋ/

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.

Other meanings

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

get-go
start
starting time
offset

Example sentences

“I'm beginning to forget my own mother tongue.”
Tatoeba · hecko · CC0
“This was the beginning of the end.”
Tatoeba · shekitten · CC0
“This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Tatoeba · Igider · CC0

Word history

From Middle English "biginning".

Where this comes from

This definition is adapted from “beginning” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.