Synonyms: start, commencement, beginning
Definition: the act of starting something
Usage: he was responsible for the beginning of negotiations
Similar words: change of state
Definition: the act of changing something into something different in essential characteristics
Synonyms: beginning
Definition: the first part or section of something
Usage: `It was a dark and stormy night' is a hackneyed beginning for a story
Similar words: part, section, division
Definition: one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole
Usage: the written part of the exam; the finance section of the company; the BBC's engineering division
Synonyms: beginning
Definition: the event consisting of the start of something
Usage: the beginning of the war
Similar words: natural event, occurrence, occurrent, happening
Definition: an event that happens
Synonyms: root, rootage, source, beginning, origin
Definition: the place where something begins, where it springs into being
Usage: 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
Similar words: point
Definition: the precise location of something; a spatially limited location
Usage: she walked to a point where she could survey the whole street
Synonyms: start, starting time, showtime, beginning, get-go, outset, offset, commencement, kickoff, first
Definition: the time at which something is supposed to begin
Usage: they got an early start; she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her
Similar words: point, point in time
Definition: an instant of time
Usage: at that point I had to leave
Definition: serving to begin
Usage: the beginning canto of the poem; the first verse
Similar words: opening
Definition: first or beginning
Usage: the memorable opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth; the play's opening scene