begynne

English

Verb

begynne

Obsolete spelling of begin.
- 1509, The Tree of Commonwealth -- a treatise written by Edmund Dudley Minister to King Henry the VII whilst he was in Prison, in the first year of King Henry ye VIII:
  Furst in the rembemberance of god and of the faith of his holy Churche, with the which thing euery Christyan prince hath nede to begynne, Secondly of some condicions and demeanours necessarie in euery prince both for his honour and for the suertie of his contynewanunce, Thirdly of the tree of common welth which tochith people of euery degre, of the condicions and demeanours which thei should be off.
- 1518, The Grete Shyppe of Fooles of This Worlde:
  He that desyreth eur thynges newe For to begynne amonge poore men all Perauenture he maye it ones sore rewe Whan he cometh before God eternall There to be juged in sentence fynall Where after his deserte he shall haue mede Yf he have done well ryght well he shall spede.
- 1556, Chronicon Ab anno 1189 AD 1556, Ex Registro Fratrum Minorum Londoniae (Chronicle From the Register of the Grey Friars of London):
  And the xvi. day of Januarii, before the byshoppe of Sent Asse, doctor Standyche, and doctor Ally, and other offeceres belongynge vn-to the sayd legate dyd begynne their visitacioun at the Obseruanttes of Grenwych, and thenne was departyd many of them vn-to other placys;

Middle English

Verb

begynne

Alternative form of beginnen
- 1474, Caxton, Game and Playe of the Chesse‎^[1]:
  And than we wyll begynne at the pawne whiche standeth to fore the rooke on the right side of the kinge for as moche as this pawne apperteyneth to serue the vicaire or lieutenant of the kynge and other officers vnder hym of necessaryes of vitayll/
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Middle Low German beginnen, cognate with Old English beginnan (English begin), from Proto-Germanic *biginnaną.

Pronunciation

Audio: (file)

Verb

begynne (imperative begynn, present tense begynner, simple past begynte, past participle begynt, present participle begynnende)

to begin, start (initiate or take the first step into something.)
Jeg begynte nylig å lese Shakespeares verker.
I just recently started reading Shakespeare's works.

Gutten snublet i bakken og begynte å gråte.
The boy tripped and fell and started crying.

Ok, skal vi begynne?
OK, shall we begin?

Skynd deg, filmen begynner om ti minutter.
Hurry up, the movie starts in ten minutes.

Vel begynt er halvt fullendt.
A good start completes half the work. (Proverb; literally: "well began/started is half completed")

Synonyms

Derived terms

References

“begynne” in The Ordnett Dictionary
“begynne” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “begin”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

begynna

Etymology

From Middle Low German beginnen, cognate with Old English beginnan (English begin), from Proto-Germanic *biginnaną.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /bɛˈjʏnːə/, /ˈbjʏnːə/
(dialects with both palatalization and apocope) IPA^(key): /bʏɲː/

Verb

begynne (present tense begynner, past tense begynte, past participle begynt, present participle begynnande, imperative begynn)

to begin (to start, to initiate or take the first step into something.)
Eg begynte nyleg å lese verka til Shakespeare.
I just recently started reading Shakespeare's works.

Gutten snubla i bakken og begynte å gråte.
The boy stumbled and fell and started crying.

Ok, skal vi begynne?
Ok, shall we begin?

Skynd deg, filmen begynner om ti minutter.
Hurry up, the movie starts in ten minuts.

Vel begynt er halvt fullendt.
A good start completes half the work. (Proverb; literally: "well began/started is half completed")

Usage notes

The listed synonym byrje is virtually identical in meaning and is frequently used instead.

Synonyms

Derived terms

References

“begynne” in The Ordnett Dictionary
“begynne” in The Bokmål Dictionary / The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “begin”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.