| 释义 |
▪ I. begin, v.1|bɪˈgɪn|
Pa. tense began |bɪˈgæn|. Pa. pple. begun |bɪˈgʌn|. Forms: 1 bi-, beginnan, 2–4 biginnen, 3–4 biginne, 3–7 beginne, 3– begin. (Also 3 bigunen, 4 bigine, -gyn(e, bygyn(ne, 4–6 begyn(ne.) pa. tense sing. 1– began, 1–5 bigan. (Also 2–5 bigon, 3–5 bygan, 4 bigane, 4–5 bygon(ne, 4–6 begann(e, begon(ne, 6–9 begun.) pl. 1 bi-, begunnon, 2–4 -gunnen, 3–4 bigun(ne, 4–6 begunne, 4–9 begun; 4–5 bi-, begann(e, 4– began. (Also 3–4 bygun(ne, -gonne, 6 -gane.) Sc. 4–7 begouth, 6 -gould, -guld, 6–8 -goud, 7–9 -gude. pa. pple. 1–4 bi-, begunnen, 3–5 bigun(ne, 4–7 begunne, 4– begun. (Also 4–5 bygun(ne, begonnen, bygonne, 4–6 begonne, begunnyn, 6–7 begon, 7 begone, 7– occas. began.)
[Of common WGer. or ? OTeut. formation: OE. bi-, be-ginnan is identical with OS. and OHG. bi-ginnan, MHG., mod.G., Du. be-ginnen, MDu. beghinnen; f. bi-, be- about + *ginnan, an original Teutonic vb., of which however only compounds have come down to us, including (beside the preceding) Goth. du-ginnan to begin, OE. ǫn-ginnan, a-ginnan, to begin, OHG. in-ginnan, MHG. en-ginnen. The latter (OHG. and MHG.) had the senses ‘to cut open, open up, begin, undertake’; hence it is inferred that the root sense of *ginnan was ‘to open, open up,’ and that it was cogn. w. ON. gína, OE. gínan ‘to gape, yawn,’ from a stem *gi-, appearing also in OSlav. zij-ati, L. hi-āre ‘to gape, open’:—Aryan *ghi-. ‘Gi-nn-an might originally be a form of the nu- class, in which, as in ri-nn-an, skî-n-an, and other verbs, the formative of the present was carried over into the other tenses’ (Sievers). The transition of sense from ‘open up’ to ‘begin,’ is a frequent one: cf. F. entamer, Eng. attame; also Ger. eröffnen and Eng. ‘open’ a speech, ‘open’ fire, ‘open up’ negotiations; also the parallel use of ‘close, close up, conclude, shut up,’ in sense of ‘to end.’ Beginnan was very rare in OE., where the ordinary word was ǫnginnan: see ongin, agin, and the aphetic gin, gan. As in other verbs having grammatical vowel change in the pa. tense, there was an early tendency to level the forms of the 1–3 sing. began, and of the 2 sing. begunne, pl. begunnon, which has resulted in the establishment of began as the standard form; but an alternative from the old plural begun has also come down to the present day. The rare pa. pple. began shows form-levelling in another direction. The Sc. forms begouth, begoud, seem due to some form-association with couth, could, probably through the aphetic form gan, which became in Sc. can, and was thus identical in form with can ‘to be able.’]
1. intr. To open operations upon or in reference to (any action), to set oneself effectively to do (something), to be at the point of first contact with; to enter upon, take the first step, do the first or starting part; to commence, to start. An abstract notion, which is reached in various languages through the concrete notions of opening, broaching (F. entamer), going into or entering upon (L. inīre), rousing oneself to, attacking (L. adorīri), setting oneself to (F. se mettre), seizing hold of, or taking in hand (G. anfangen), rousing oneself from inaction into activity (start).
a. with dative inf. with to (formerly often for to; occasionally with the inf. without to).
c1000ælfric Gen. ix. 20 Noe þa began to wircenne þæt land. c1175Lamb. Hom. 77 Nu bi-gon paul to wepen. c1250Gen. & Ex. 188 Ðan ðat he singen bi-gan. a1300Cursor M. 3565 His heued bigines for to scak. Ibid. 5942 Ful yern on godd bi-gun [v.r. beganne] þai call. c1374Chaucer Boeth. ii. iii. 37 Þou bygunne raþer to ben leef and deere Þan forto ben a neyȝbour. 1375Barbour Bruce ix. 183 Thair hertis all begouth to fale. c1420Avow. Arth. xxx, The day be-ganne to daw. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 1 b, Therupon I begon.. to wryte in latyn. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 389 Thay begould to requyre that Messe sould be sett up agane. 1581Savile Tacitus' Hist. (1622) 198 The troopes of the horsemen beganne for to flee. 1611Bible Gen. iv. 26 Then began men to call vpon the Name of the Lord. 1646Row Hist. Kirk (1842) 245 Many..ill-principled ministers begouth to acknowledge them. 1647W. Browne Polexander i. 183 The faire Gardeneresse then began speake. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §323 The storm..begun at the south-east. a1813A. Wilson Hogmenae Wks. 295 Auld Saunders begoud for to wink. 1819Byron Juan ii. clxvii, He begun To hear new words, and to repeat them. 1821T. H. Scott in Parr's Wks. (1828) VII. 242 They have already began to export fine wool. 1826J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 238 Day⁓life begude to roar again. 1870H. Macmillan Bible Teach. x. 208 We began to die the moment we began to live.
¶ When the following verb is transitive, e.g. ‘they have begun to cleanse it,’ the passive has been variously ‘it has been begun-to-cleanse,’ ‘it has been begun to be cleansed,’ ‘it has begun to be cleansed’; the last is the form now used.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 99 Þe is of sinne clensed oðer bigunne to clensende. c1400Mandeville v. 40 When the gret Tour of Babel was begonnen to be made. a1657Sir J. Balfour Ann. Scotl. (1825) II. 72 Wedinsday, the 18 of Nouember, a blazinge star begude to be seine in the southe.
b. absol. To start or take the first step in any matter in question, or in action generally.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 85 Ðu bigunne betere þenne þu ende. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 78 Charite schuld bigyne at hemself. 1458MS. in Dom. Archit. III. 41 The kynge bad hem begynne apon Goddes blissing. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. III. 314 With als grit anger that tyme as tha culd, Tha left the mater war than tha beguld. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iv. 32, I know it wel sir, you alwaies end ere you begin. 1612Dekker If not good Wks. 1873 I. 276 Well to begin, and not to end so were base. a1762Lady M. W. Montague Lett. lxxx. 132, I do not know how to begin.
c. spec. To begin a speech, to start speaking, to speak.
1563Mirr. Mag. Induct. xix, My spirits returnd, and then I thus begonne:.. 1667Milton P.L. i. 83 To whom th' Arch-Enemy..Breaking the horrid silence, thus began:.. 1725Pope Odyss. iv. 82 Soft-whispering thus to Nestor's son..young Ithacus begun:..
d. Const. to begin at (formerly begin from): to start from a point. to begin with (formerly begin at, begin from, begin by): to start with an action or thing affected; to begin by doing something. to begin with, (begin withal obs.), advb. phr.: At the outset, as the first thing to be considered.
c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 546 Bygyn at þe laste þat standez lowe, Tyl to þe fyrste þat þou at-teny. c1380Wyclif Tres Tract. 24 Bigynne we at the freris, the whiche he brouȝte laste inne. 1382― Luke xxiii. 5 Bigynnyng fro Galilee til hidur [Tindale, at Galile even to this place; Rhemish, from Galilee euen hither; 1611 from Galilee to this place]. 1531Tindale Expos. & Notes (1849) 220 And, to begin withal, they said Confiteor. 1536R. Beerley in Four C. Eng. Lett. 35 Sume cum to mattens, begenynge at the mydes, and sume when yt ys allmost done. 1562Foxe A. & M. I. 452/2 First, beginning with that godly man..the Author of the Book. a1563Bale K. Johan (1837) 47 Fyrst to begyne with, we shall interdyte the lond. 1611Bible Matt. xx. 8 Beginning from the last vnto the first [Wyclif, to; Geneva, at the laste til [to] the firste]. 1631Gouge God's Arrows iii. §2. 182, I will begin with the Assaulter, who is..said to be Amalek. 1697Dryden Alexander's Feast ii, The song began from Jove. 1739Chesterfield Lett. I. xxxix. 124 The Spaniards began their conquests..by the islands of St. Domingo and Cuba. 1774― Ibid. 2, I am told, Sir, you are preparing to travel, and that you begin by Holland. 1819Byron Juan i. vii, My way is to begin with the beginning. 1843Carlyle Past & Pr. 324 The noble Priest was always a noble Aristos, to begin with. 1860Mill Repr. Govt. 278 It is obvious, to begin with, that all business purely local..should devolve upon the local authorities.
e. Usu. with preceding negative: To make any (or the least) approach to, to come anywhere near. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1833Niles' Reg. XLIV. 348/1 The one in Bleecker street..cost ten thousand dollars, and that does not begin to be as expensive as this. 1865Congress. Globe Feb. 664/1 New York does not begin to have sixty-nine thousand square miles. 1888Harper's Mag. Sept. 545/2 He got Bret to take her picture,..and he said it didn't begin to do her justice. 1907Howells Through Eye of Needle 43 Often there's a..dinner that you couldn't begin to get for the same price anywhere. 1915W. Raleigh Let. 30 Mar. (1926) II. 420, I can't begin to tell about America. 1957R. W. Zandvoort Handbook Eng. Gram. i. ii. 27, I felt I did not begin to understand her. (footnote) American, but spreading in England. 1963Listener 24 Jan. 168/2 The Aeneid is not an Augusteid, because Augustus could not begin to embody Virgil's feelings. 1968Observer 22 Dec. 8/5 Dollar for dollar, man in space does not begin to be cost-effective.
f. To compare in any degree with. U.S.
1862O. W. Norton Army Lett. (1903) 47 There is no other man whom I would be so much pleased to have taken as..Floyd. Jeff Davis wouldn't begin. 1877‘Mark Twain’ in Atlantic Nov. 590 There ain't a book that begins with it. 1897― Following Equator xxxviii. 347 Indeed, our working-women cannot begin with her as a road-decoration.
2. a. trans. (in same sense) with a vbl. n., or other noun expressing action; also ellipt. with any n. treated as a piece of work, as to begin (writing) a letter, to begin (reading) a book.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 93 Þet weorc wes bigunnen on-ȝen godes iwillan. a1300Cursor M. 266 Now þis prolouge wil we blin, In crist nam our bok begin. 1307Elegy Edw. I, viii, Bringe to ende that thou hast by-gonne. 1433Caxton G. de la Tour E vj b, He began werre to his neyghbours and to his Barons. 1513Douglas æneis v. ii. 36 This sacrifice quhilk I begunnyn haif. 1699Bentley Phal. ii. 62 They begun their Reigns at the same time. 1722Lond. Gaz. No. 6051/1 His Royal Highness began the Ball with the Princess. 1751Chatham Lett. Nephew ii. 6, I rejoice to hear you have begun Homer's Iliad. 1835Crabbe Par. Reg. i. 276 With evil omen, we that year begin.
b. intr. To begin on or upon: To set to work upon, begin to deal with.
1808Southey Life (1850) III. 163, I will not begin upon it till I come to a stop in Kehama.
3. trans. To start (anything) on its career, to give origin to, bring into existence, create; to be the first to do or practise. Of works, practices, or institutions, lasting through time.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 59 Alle þe scafte þe he bi-gon. c1250Gen. & Ex. 447 Ðis Lamech was þe firme man ðe bigamie first bigan. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1007 Dido..This noble toun of Cartage hath bygunne. 1704Pope Windsor For. 61 Proud Nimrod first the savage chace began. 1846Grote Greece i. xviii. II. 14 Archelaus..alleged to have first begun the dynasty of the Temenid Kings.
4. intr. To enter upon its career, come into existence, take its rise, originate; to arise, start.
a. in reference to time.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 236 Here first name ðor bigan. a1300Cursor M. 5342 Þar lijs adam, þe formast man, And eue of quam we all bigann. 1393Gower Conf. I. 26 And than a newe [world] shal beginne. 1513More Rich. III (1641) 235 If the world would have begunne as I would have wished. 1598Sylvester Du Bartas i. i. (1641) 2/1 Eternally before this World begun. 1602W. Fulbecke 1st Pt. Parall. 28 All perfection, goodnes, and iustice beginneth at him. 1611Bible Num. xvi. 46 There is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun. 1875Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. (ed. 5) Sup. 405 The greatness of the Prussian monarchy begins with Frederick II. 1883H. Drummond Nat. Law in Spir. W. 386 All life begins at the Amœboid stage.
b. of order in a list or series, place in a book, etc.
a1225St. Marher. 1 Her beginneð þe liflade and te passiun of seinte Margarete. 1382Wyclif Matt. ad fin., Here endith the gospel of Matheu and bigynneth the prolog of Mark. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 3 Here begynnen the chapytres and tytles of this book folowing. Mod. A new story begins in the present number. The paragraph begins about the middle of the page.
c. in reference to space.
a1300Cursor M. 1035 Þis flummes four þat þar biginnes, thoru out all oþer contres rinnes. 1517R. Torkington Pilgrimage (1884) 23 At this Jaffe begynnyth the holy londe. Mod. The pine-forests begin at an elevation of two thousand feet.
5. Phrases. † to begin the board, dais, etc.: to sit at the head of the table. † to begin a toast: to propose a toast. † to begin to a person: to pledge, toast that person. to begin the world: to start in life. to begin upon a person (colloq.): to attack or assail a person.
c1386Chaucer Prol. 52 Ful ofte tyme he hadde the bord bygonne Aboven alle naciouns in Pruce. c1430Syr Tryam. 1636 Quene Margaret began the deyse. 1493Festivall (W. de W. 1515) 85 b, That they sholde bere them to hym that began the table [at Cana]. 1628Earle Microcosm. lxxvi. 157 That is kind o'er his beer, and protests he loves you, And begins to you again. 1633Bp. Hall Hard Texts 36 Can yee drinke of that bitter cup wherein I shall begin to you? 1715Burnet Own Time II. 117 At Sancroft's consecration dinner, he began a health, to the confusion of all that were not for a war with France. c1825Mrs. Sherwood Houlston Tr. II. xxxii. 4 All the company began upon her, and bade her mind her own affairs. 1833H. Martineau Br. Farm iv. 53 Do you know..with how much land Mr. Malton began the world?
▪ II. † begin, v.2 Obs.|bɪˈdʒɪn|
Forms: 3– bygynne, 4 bigin, bigyn, biginn(e, begyn, begin.
[f. be- + gin, a trap.]
trans. To entrap, ensnare.
c1250O.E. Misc. 79 Ure wyþerwine Þat þencheþ vs to bi-gynne. a1300Cursor M. 3880 Allas for sinn, qua wend he wald þus me biginn.
▪ III. † beˈgin, n. Obs. rare—1.
[f. begin v.1]
Beginning.
1596Spenser F.Q. iii. iii. 21 Let no whit thee dismay The hard beginne that meetes thee in the dore.
▪ IV. begin, begink
obs. f. beguin, biggin, begunk. |
