- 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)

- 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"

- set in motion, cause to start
"The U.S. started a war in the Middle East"
"The Iraqis began hostilities"
"begin a new chapter in your life"

- begin to speak or say
"Now listen, friends," he began

- begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language
"She began Russian at an early age"
"We started French in fourth grade"

- 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 an event that is implied and limited by the nature or inherent function of the direct object
"begin a cigar"
"She started the soup while it was still hot"
"We started physics in 10th grade"

- have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense
"The DMZ begins right over the hill"
"The second movement begins after the Allegro"
"Prices for these homes start at $250,000"

- have a beginning characterized in some specified way
"The novel begins with a murder"
"My property begins with the three maple trees"
"Her day begins with a work-out"
"The semester begins with a convocation ceremony"

- have a beginning, of a temporal event
"WWII began in 1939 when Hitler marched into Poland"
"The company''s Asia tour begins next month"

- 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 ceremoney officially begins the semester"

1. To have or commence an independent or first existence; to take rise; to commence.

"Vast chain of being! which from God began. Pope." --

2. To do the first act or the first part of an action; to enter upon or commence something new, as a new form or state of being, or course of action; to take the first step; to start. "Tears began to flow." Dryden.

"When I begin, I will also make an end. 1 Sam. iii. 12." --

1. To enter on; to commence.

"Ye nymphs of Solyma ! begin the song. Pope." --

2. To trace or lay the foundation of; to make or place a beginning of.

"The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us to the knowledge of God. Locke." --

Syn. -- To commence; originate; set about; start.

1. Beginning. [Poetic & Obs.] Spenser.