English

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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began

  1. simple past of begin
  2. (obsolete) past participle of begin
    • 1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], chapter XI, in Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. [], volume IV, London: John Murray, [], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC, page 285:
      He had no sooner been free from the horror and remorse attending the first few days of Louisa’s accident, no sooner begun to feel himself alive again, than he had began to feel himself, though alive, not at liberty.

Derived terms

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Anagrams

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Middle Dutch

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Verb

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began

  1. first/third-person singular past indicative of beginnen

Old English

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *bigān. Equivalent to be- +‎ gān. Cognate with Old High German bigān.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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begān

  1. to bego, go over, traverse; get to, come by, fall into
  2. to go to, visit, care for, cultivate, affect
    • Se ðe æcer begǽþ.He who cultivates land (acre) … a farmer (Ælfc. Gr. 7; Som. 6, 44.)
  3. to occupy, inhabit, dwell, surround, besiege, overrun
    • Hí ðone búr útan beeódon.They surrounded the dwelling outside. (Chr. 755; Th. 83, 26, col. 1)
  4. to practise, do, engage in, perform, commit, exercise, attend to, be diligent about, honor, serve, worship, profess; pledge, devote, train oneself
    • He begǽþ unmǽtasHe commits gluttonies. (Deut. 21, 20)
    • Begá ðé sylfne to árfæstnysseTrain thyself to godliness. (1 Tim. 4, 7)

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Middle English: bigon, begon

References

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