1usually in singular The point in time or space at which something starts.

他是2月初离开的。

他们已经到了树林边。

1. 1.1 The first part or earliest stage of something.
   开头，最先的部分，最早阶段
   the ending of one relationship and the beginning of another

   一种关系的结束和另一种关系的开始。

   she had the beginnings of a headache

   她开始觉得头痛。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • This designation shows the beginnings of organization and sharpening skills of the children.
   • If you don't want to turn as red as an apple, try writing the letter mentioned in the beginning of the story.
   • The prefix letter at the beginning of the registration number no longer relates to the age of the car.
   • He has been involved since the beginning of the organising stages of the exhibition.
   • We are somewhere at the beginning of this stage right now, trying to make sense of strings of undecipherable information.
   • These letters mark the beginning of a long correspondence and collaboration between the two mathematicians.
   • Rose lifted her pen to look over the beginning of her letter, examining each word critically.
   • These early beginnings set the stage for more recent innovations in the field.
   • I could see the beginnings of laugh lines that would only make her more beautiful as she aged.
   • Absolutely exhausted with the beginnings of a headache.
   • I know this because Miller comes out on stage at the beginning and tells us so.
   • I have a raging thirst, and the beginnings of a headache.
   • The entire cast assembles on stage in the beginning before splitting into smaller groups for the subsequent variations.
   • About thirty minutes later I got the beginnings of a headache, it got gradually worse until I got stomach cramps and felt sick.
   • I then realised that the letter A at the beginning of a word signifies that the word should have been printed in bold or italic.
   • The beginning stages included an attack on local villagers by a fighting force of rebels.
   • Like in a written letter, we should introduce ourselves at the beginning of our first e-mail message.
   • They are three words that should come at the end of a trial, not the beginning.
   • At the beginning of the second stage several new rules took effect.
   • She looks older in person, the beginnings of fine lines forming around her eyes.

   Synonyms

   opening, commencing, starting, inceptive, embryonic, fledgling
2. 1.2usually beginnings The background or origins of anything.
   he had risen from humble beginnings to great wealth

   他出身低微，但后来飞黄腾达，成为巨富。

   the series explores the beginnings of flight

   Example sentencesExamples

   • They developed subsequently, from less communally organized beginnings, chiefly to achieve a better integration of arable and pasture farming as more land was taken into cultivation.
   • It's a shoe line with humble beginnings in Spain that's now making a big impact this season and well into the fall.
   • But even though the college has left its grisly past behind, it's hard to dissociate it from the macabre tales of its early beginnings.
   • It is said that this area was barren in its early beginnings, but its founder, Osho, cultivated it to become a viable territory.
   • Over three generations, we see the Boten clan transform itself from humble beginnings to a family divided by deceit and consumed with life in the big city and the promise of fast money.
   • Would he be happy to see it move so far from its beginnings in the working class inner suburbs of Sydney?
   • The association had humble beginnings and initially, functioned from the steps of the stadium.
   • The film follows the family through their troubled beginnings, their shame and indignation following the charges and their subsequent disintegration.
   • From these humble beginnings the original concept of an aquarium at Scripps grew.
   • It is a far cry from its humble beginnings in the gardens of Egerton, near Darwen, in 1993.
   • If I look real close at this old photo I can even detect the beginnings of the family double chin.
   • It is a great example of what can be achieved in this country from whatever background or education or humble beginnings.
   • With a warming Northern lilt and cheekily lit eyes, he talks modestly of the talents that have drawn him from his working class beginnings.
   • The England captain, Henry Brett, is Britain's best player and one of the few to play to a high level, despite humble financial beginnings - his parents sold a sofa to buy him his first polo pony.
   • Because from your very earliest beginnings, you were always the real deal.
   • The market grew organically from its modest beginnings.
   • That said, the tradition goes back to the very beginnings of organised music itself.
   • From its small beginnings, the organisation has become an important voice on a wide range of issues in education and child welfare.
   • After years of steadily building its organization from tiny beginnings in San Francisco, the group has become a key player in critical legal challenges.
   • After all, from such humble beginnings as a pilot show for a tiny new internet radio station, recorded in my bedroom of a Sunday, do broadcasting careers begin.

   Synonyms

   origin, source, starting point, basis, birthplace, cradle, spring, mainspring, embryo, germ

1New or inexperienced.

1. 1.1 Introductory or elementary.
   the beginning guitar class

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Bass, learning the beginning elements, which is all I did, is not really that hard.
   • That's certainly a key element who's just at the beginning stages of its impact.
   • I've been teaching a beginning Hebrew class at the university.
   • The primo part may be played by an elementary student at the beginning stages of piano study.
   • I am interested in taking a beginning pottery class, but I'm not sure where to go.