Origin: Germanic Old English prefix
Begin has 13 different meanings across 2 categories:
Israeli statesman (born in Russia) who (as prime minister of Israel) negotiated a peace treaty with Anwar Sadat (then the president of Egypt) (1913-1992)
"The historical record details how Menachem Begin, an Israeli statesman born in Russia, negotiated a historic peace treaty with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat while serving as prime minister."
Beginning; start.
"At the beginning of every day, I make a cup of coffee to get started on my tasks."
"The beginning of the movie was slow and boring."
Usage: Avoid using "begin" as a noun in modern English, as it is an archaic term that has largely been replaced by "beginning." Instead of saying "the begin," always use the correct noun form "beginning" to refer to a start or opening.
take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
"We began working at dawn"
"Who will start?"
"Get working as soon as the sun rises!"
"The first tourists began to arrive in Cambodia"
"He began early in the day"
"Let's get down to work now"
be the first item or point, constitute the beginning or start, come first in a series
"The number `one' begins the sequence"
"A terrible murder begins the novel"
"The convocation ceremony officially begins the semester"
have a beginning, of a temporal event
"WW II began in 1939 when Hitler marched into Poland"
"The company's Asia tour begins next month"
achieve or accomplish in the least degree, usually used in the negative
"This economic measure doesn't even begin to deal with the problem of inflation"
"You cannot even begin to understand the problem we had to deal with during the war"
begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language
"She began Russian at an early age"
"We started French in fourth grade"
To start, to initiate or take the first step into something.
"She decided to begin her new career by applying for a few local jobs next week."
In plain English: To begin means to start doing something.
"The movie begins with an exciting chase scene."
Usage: Use "begin" to indicate the moment an action starts or someone initiates a process. It functions as both a transitive and intransitive verb, often followed by a gerund or an infinitive depending on the sentence structure.
The word "begin" comes from the Old English verb beginnan, which meant to start an action. It traveled into Middle English as beginnen and eventually became the modern form we use today.