Etymology

begin

B3E1G2I1N1

Today it means: To start, to initiate or take the first step into something. Full definition →

Middle English beginnen ← Old English beginnan ← Proto-West Germanic *biginnan
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*biginnaną“to begin”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*biginnan
  3. Old English · inherited frombeginnan“to begin”
  4. Middle English · inherited frombeginnen
  5. English todaybegin

From Middle English beginnen, from Old English beginnan (“to begin”), from Proto-West Germanic *biginnan, from Proto-Germanic *biginnaną (“to begin”), from be- + base verb *ginnaną also found in Old English onginnan.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*biginnaną all →

beginning

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.