n.

1. Israeli statesman (born in Russia) who (as prime minister of Israel) negotiated a peace treaty with Anwar Sadat (then the president of Egypt) (1913-1992);
   Begin, Menachem Begin

v.

1. take the first step or steps in carrying out an action;
   get down, get, start out, start, set about, set out, commence
   
   • We began working at dawn
   • Who will start?
   • Get working as soon as the sun rises!
   • The first tourists began to arrive in Cambodia
   • He began early in the day
   • Let's get down to work now
2. have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense;
   start
   
   • The DMZ begins right over the hill
   • The second movement begins after the Allegro
   • Prices for these homes start at $250,000
3. set in motion, cause to start;
   lead off, start, commence
   
   • The U.S. started a war in the Middle East
   • The Iraqis began hostilities
   • begin a new chapter in your life
4. begin to speak or say; "Now listen, friends," he began
5. be the first item or point, constitute the beginning or start, come first in a series
   
   • The number `one' begins the sequence
   • A terrible murder begins the novel
   • The convocation ceremony officially begins the semester
6. have a beginning, of a temporal event
   
   • WW II began in 1939 when Hitler marched into Poland
   • The company's Asia tour begins next month
7. have a beginning characterized in some specified way;
   start
   
   • The novel begins with a murder
   • My property begins with the three maple trees
   • Her day begins with a workout
   • The semester begins with a convocation ceremony
8. begin an event that is implied and limited by the nature or inherent function of the direct object;
   start
   
   • begin a cigar
   • She started the soup while it was still hot
   • We started physics in 10th grade
9. achieve or accomplish in the least degree, usually used in the negative
   
   • This economic measure doesn't even begin to deal with the problem of inflation
   • You cannot even begin to understand the problem we had to deal with during the war
10. begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language
    
    • She began Russian at an early age
    • We started French in fourth grade