beginning

Universal Words noun 1 [C,usually sing.] ~ (of sth) the time when sth starts; the first part of an event, a story, etc: We're going to Japan at the beginning of July. * She's been working there since the beginning of last summer. * We missed the beginning of the movie. * Let's start again from the beginning. * The birth of their first child marked the beginning of a new era in their married life. * I've read the whole book from beginning to end and still can't understand it. HELPNOTE At the beginning (of) is used for the time and place when something begins. In the beginning = at first and suggests a contrast with a later situation. 2 (beginnings) [pl.] the first or early ideas, signs or stages of sth: Did democracy have its beginnings in ancient Greece? * He built up his multimillion pound music business from small beginnings. IDIOMS the beginning of the end the first sign of sth ending: The scandal was the beginning of the end of his career as a politician.