began

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, UK) IPA^(key): /bɪˈɡæn/
• (General American, US) IPA^(key): /bɪˈɡæn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æn
• Hyphenation: be‧gan

Verb

began

1. simple past tense of begin
2. (obsolete) past participle of begin

Derived terms

• beganst

Anagrams

• Bange, abeng, benga

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Middle Dutch

Verb

began

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

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Old English

Etymology

From be- +‎ gān. Cognate with Old High German bigān.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beˈɡɑːn/

Verb

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 unmǽtas ― He commits gluttonies. (Deut. 21, 20)

   Begá ðé sylfne to árfæstnysse ― Train thyself to godliness. (1 Tim. 4, 7)

Conjugation

Conjugation of begān (irregular)

infinitive	begān	begānne
indicative	present	past
1st-person singular	begā	beēode
2nd-person singular	begǣst	beēodest
3rd-person singular	begǣþ	beēode
plural	begāþ	beēodon
subjunctive	present	past
singular	begā	beēode
plural	begān	beēoden
imperative
singular	begā
plural	begāþ
participle	present	past
	begānde	begān

Derived terms

• forebegān
• misbegān
• unbegān

Descendants

• Middle English: bigon, begon
  • English: bego

References

• John R. Clark Hall (1916) , “begān”, in A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York: Macmillan.
• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) , “begān”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.