Wordul · all words

verb · 2 syllables · /bɪ'gɪn/

BEGIN

What does "BEGIN" mean?

To start to do something or to come into being.

Meanings

  1. To perform the first part of an action; to set about doing something. We should begin the meeting before more people arrive.
  2. To come into existence or start to happen. The story begins on a wet morning in October.
  3. To have a starting point in space or scope. The footpath begins just past the second gate.

Word origin

From Old English 'beginnan', built from the prefix 'be-' plus a Germanic root meaning to open or set about; it has cousins in German 'beginnen' and Dutch 'beginnen'.

Remember it

BEGIN = 'BE' + 'GIN' (as in 'engine starting'); to begin is to BE-in-motion. The vowel ladder ahead: begin, began, begun.

A little poem

Pen above the page-
the hardest white in the world
is the line not yet.

haiku

Wordplay

  • What's the difference between 'begin' and 'commence'? About four syllables and a top hat.

What it teaches

Beginning costs almost nothing and feels like everything; that gap is exactly where most plans quietly die.

Quick facts

What does BEGIN mean?

To start to do something or to come into being.

Is BEGIN a valid word?

Yes — BEGIN is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.

How many letters is BEGIN?

BEGIN has 5 letters and 2 syllables.

Where does BEGIN come from?

From Old English 'beginnan', built from the prefix 'be-' plus a Germanic root meaning to open or set about; it has cousins in German 'beginnen' and Dutch 'beginnen'.

What can BEGIN teach us?

Beginning costs almost nothing and feels like everything; that gap is exactly where most plans quietly die.

How players do

Be the first to solve it.

Play today's Wordul →