beginning

be·gin·ning (b

-g

ng)

1. The act or process of bringing or being brought into being; a start.

2. The time when something begins or is begun: the beginning of the war.

3. The place where something begins or is begun: at the beginning of the road.

4. A source; an origin: What was the beginning of the dispute?

5. The first part: The front matter is at the beginning of the book.

6. An early or rudimentary phase. Often used in the plural: the beginnings of human life on this planet.

Synonyms: beginning, birth, dawn, genesis, nascence, rise
These nouns denote the initial stage of a developmental process: the beginning of a new era in technology; the birth of generative grammar; the dawn of civilization; the genesis of quantum mechanics; the nascence of classical sculpture; the rise and decline of an ancient city-state.

Antonym: end

beginning

Noun

1. a start

2. beginnings an early part or stage

3. the place where or time when something starts

4. an origin; source

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun	1.	beginning - the event consisting of the start of something; "the beginning of the war" happening, natural event, occurrence, occurrent - an event that happens casus belli - an event used to justify starting a war egress, emergence, issue - the becoming visible; "not a day's difference between the emergence of the andrenas and the opening of the willow catkins" inception, origination, origin - an event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events genesis, generation - a coming into being ground floor - becoming part of a venture at the beginning (regarded as position of advantage); "he got in on the ground floor" emergence, outgrowth, growth - the gradual beginning or coming forth; "figurines presage the emergence of sculpture in Greece" start - the beginning of anything; "it was off to a good start" conception, creation - the event that occurred at the beginning of something; "from its creation the plan was doomed to failure" conclusion, ending, finish - event whose occurrence ends something; "his death marked the ending of an era"; "when these final episodes are broadcast it will be the finish of the show"
	2.	beginning - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her" commencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, starting time, start, kickoff, first birth - the time when something begins (especially life); "they divorced after the birth of the child"; "his election signaled the birth of a new age" incipience, incipiency - beginning to exist or to be apparent; "he placed the incipience of democratic faith at around 1850"; "it is designed to arrest monopolies in their incipiency" point in time, point - an instant of time; "at that point I had to leave" starting point, terminus a quo - earliest limiting point threshold - the starting point for a new state or experience; "on the threshold of manhood" end, ending - the point in time at which something ends; "the end of the year"; "the ending of warranty period" middle - time between the beginning and the end of a temporal period; "the middle of the war"; "rain during the middle of April"
	3.	beginning - the first part or section of something; "`It was a dark and stormy night' is a hackneyed beginning for a story" division, section, part - one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole; "the written part of the exam"; "the finance section of the company"; "the BBC's engineering division" end - a final part or section; "we have given it at the end of the section since it involves the calculus"; "Start at the beginning and go on until you come to the end" middle - an intermediate part or section; "A whole is that which has beginning, middle, and end"- Aristotle
	4.	beginning - the place where something begins, where it springs into being; "the Italian beginning of the Renaissance"; "Jupiter was the origin of the radiation"; "Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River"; "communism's Russian root" origin, source, root, rootage derivation - the source or origin from which something derives (i.e. comes or issues); "he prefers shoes of Italian derivation"; "music of Turkish derivation" spring - a point at which water issues forth headspring, fountainhead, head - the source of water from which a stream arises; "they tracked him back toward the head of the stream" headwater - the source of a river; "the headwaters of the Nile" wellhead, wellspring - the source of water for a well jumping-off place, point of departure - a place from which an enterprise or expedition is launched; "one day when I was at a suitable jumping-off place I decided to see if I could find him"; "my point of departure was San Francisco" place of origin, provenance, provenience, birthplace, cradle - where something originated or was nurtured in its early existence; "the birthplace of civilization" home - place where something began and flourished; "the United States is the home of basketball" point source - a concentrated source (especially of radiation or pollution) that is spatially constricted trail head, trailhead - the beginning of a trail point - the precise location of something; a spatially limited location; "she walked to a point where she could survey the whole street"
	5.	beginning - the act of starting something; "he was responsible for the beginning of negotiations" commencement, start change of state - the act of changing something into something different in essential characteristics jumping-off point, point of departure, springboard - a beginning from which an enterprise is launched; "he uses other people's ideas as a springboard for his own"; "reality provides the jumping-off point for his illusions"; "the point of departure of international comparison cannot be an institution but must be the function it carries out" activation - making active and effective (as a bomb) tone-beginning, attack - a decisive manner of beginning a musical tone or phrase establishment, constitution, formation, organisation, organization - the act of forming or establishing something; "the constitution of a PTA group last year"; "it was the establishment of his reputation"; "he still remembers the organization of the club" first appearance, introduction, debut, entry, launching, unveiling - the act of beginning something new; "they looked forward to the debut of their new product line" face-off - (ice hockey) the method of starting play; a referee drops the puck between two opposing players first step, opening move, initiative, opening - the first of a series of actions groundbreaking, groundbreaking ceremony - the ceremonial breaking of the ground to formally begin a construction project housing start - the act of starting to construct a house icebreaker - a beginning that relaxes a tense or formal atmosphere; "he told jokes as an icebreaker" inauguration, startup - the act of starting a new operation or practice; "he opposed the inauguration of fluoridation"; "the startup of the new factory was delayed by strikes" founding, instauration, origination, initiation, innovation, creation, institution, introduction, foundation - the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new; "she looked forward to her initiation as an adult"; "the foundation of a new scientific society" installation, installing, instalment, installment - the act of installing something (as equipment); "the telephone installation took only a few minutes" jump ball - (basketball) the way play begins or resumes when possession is disputed; an official tosses the ball up between two players who jump in an effort to tap it to a teammate kickoff - (football) a kick from the center of the field to start a football game or to resume it after a score recommencement, resumption - beginning again scrum, scrummage - (rugby) the method of beginning play in which the forwards of each team crouch side by side with locked arms; play starts when the ball is thrown in between them and the two sides compete for possession startup - the act of setting in operation; "repeated shutdowns and startups are expensive"
Adj.	1.	beginning - serving to begin; "the beginning canto of the poem"; "the first verse" first opening - first or beginning; "the memorable opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth"; "the play's opening scene"