beginning

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. (countable, uncountable)That which is begun; a rudiment or element.
3. (countable, uncountable)That which begins or originates something; the source or first cause.

   “What was the beginning of the dispute?”

4. (countable, uncountable)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.”

   “To mark this absolutism of change over the works of man is both pleasing and profitable, for what is more emotional than to observe the hoarness, the mellowness, and the natural final decay of objects whose beginnings date almost from the immemorial […] ?”

   “Basic skills are introduced at this time, such as the use of context or meaning clues and the beginning sounds of words.”

   ““Is anything the matter?” Lady Lindstrom asked anxiously. “No,” Megan told her. “I’m merely trying to decide where the beginning is.” “Perhaps at the beginning,” the Chief Constable prompted, rather stupidly, Megan thought. “Which beginning?” she asked.”

verb

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present)present participle and gerund of begin

   “He is beginning to read a new book.”

   “The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. […] It was nearly eleven o’clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers’ barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one’s eyes ache, the men’s voices grated harshly, and the girls’ faces saddened one.”

adj

1. (informal, not-comparable)Being the first portion of some extended thing.

   “in the beginning paragraph of the chapter”

   “in the beginning section of the course”