Definition of "beginning" in English

noun

1. (uncountable) 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.

2. That which is begun; a rudiment or element.

3. That which begins or originates something; the source or first cause.

   • What was the beginning of the dispute?

4. 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.

verb

1. present participle and gerund of begin

   • He is beginning to read a new book.

adjective

1. (informal) Being the first portion of some extended thing.

   • in the beginning paragraph of the chapter
   • in the beginning section of the course