Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Begin

Begin ({not transcribed}) , intransitive verb

[Anglo-Saxon beginnan (akin to Old Saxon biginnan, Dutch & German beginnen, Old High German biginnan, Gothic, du-ginnan, Swedish begynna, Danish begynde); pref. be- + an assumed ginnan. r31. See Gin to begin.]

1.
To have or commence an independent or first existence; to take rise; to commence.
Vast chain of being! which from God began. — Pope
2.
To do the first act or the first part of an action; to enter upon or commence something new, as a new form or state of being, or course of action; to take the first step; to start.
Tears began to flow. — Dryden
When I begin, I will also make an end. — 1 Sam. iii. 12

Begin , transitive verb

1.
To enter on; to commence.
Ye nymphs of Solyma! begin the song. — Pope
2.
To trace or lay the foundation of; to make or place a beginning of.
The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us to the knowledge of God. — Locke

Begin , noun

Beginning. [Poetic & Obsolete] — Spenser