1. (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Begin.

2. (n.) The act of doing that which begins anything; commencement of an action, state, or space of time; entrance into being or upon a course; the first act, effort, or state of a succession of acts or states.

3. (n.) That which begins or originates something; the first cause; origin; source.

4. (n.) That which is begun; a rudiment or element.

5. (n.) Enterprise.

abecedarian aboriginal alpha anlage antenatal anticipation appearance authorship autochthonous babyhood basal beginnings birth budding childhood coinage commencement conception concoction contrivance contriving cradle creation creative creative effort dawn dawning day derivation devising earliness early hour early stage elemental elementary embryonic emergence fabrication fetal first crack first stage foresight formative foundational freshman year fundamental generation genesis gestatory grass roots ground floor hatching head head start improvisation in embryo in its infancy in the bud inaugural inception inceptive inchoate inchoation inchoative incipience incipiency incipient incunabula incunabular infancy infant infantile initial initiative initiatory introductory invention inventive making do mintage nascence nascency nascent natal nativity onset opening origin original origination outset outstart parturient parturition postnatal pregnancy pregnant prenatal prevenience prevision primal primary prime primeval primitive primogenial procreative prologue provenience radical radix readiness rise root rudiment rudimental rudimentary running start setout source spring sprout start stem stock taproot time to spare ur very beginning youth