begun
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
An inflected form of begin · inflected form.
How often you will meet it
Rank 1,388 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 13,249 times across 155,139 chapters — 0.006% of every word in the library.
What it means
verb
- take the first step or steps in carrying out an action also: get down, get, start out, start, set about, set out We began working at dawnWho will start?
- have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense also: start The DMZ begins right over the hillThe second movement begins after the Allegro
- set in motion, cause to start also: lead off, start, commence The U.S. started a war in the Middle EastThe Iraqis began hostilities
- begin to speak or say `Now listen, friends', he began
- be the first item or point, constitute the beginning or start, come first in a series The number `one' begins the sequenceA terrible murder begins the novel
- have a beginning, of a temporal event WW II began in 1939 when Hitler marched into PolandThe company's Asia tour begins next month
begun in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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Then thought the Hunter, ‘The cabbage must have already begun to work.’
The Yellow Fairy Book: The Grateful Beasts · World Traditions (Celtic, Norse, Asian & Persian) · Chapter 1
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He mutter'd, glorying in the work begun, 'Well done, my little Wench; 'twas nobly done!'
Rural Tales, Ballads, and Songs · Robert Bloomfield · Chapter 1
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The Skipper says that he's heard that the persecution of the Jews has just begun again.
Punch — Volume 99, August 16, 1890 · Various · Chapter 1
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No nymph is she, but mistress of the air, By whom my glories are but new begun.
Elizabethan Sonnet Cycles: Phillis - Licia · Martha Foote [Editor] Crow · Chapter 1
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As soon as the wind died the logs had begun to drift slowly out into the open water.
The Riverman · Stewart Edward White · Chapter 1