Etymologically
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beginner

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:30. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /bɪˈɡɪnə/[1]
  • US: /bəˈɡɪnɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English begin + -er,[2][3][4][5] as an agent noun from the Middle English verb beginnen.[6][4] begin is from Old English beginnan, formed from be- and Proto-West Germanic *ginnan, a verb of obscure origin that occurs only in compounds.[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who begins something; an originator or founder: about 1400, in Pearl,[2] or the early 14th century in Etymonline.[6] Merriam-Webster dates the word to the 15th century.[4]

Semantic evolution

The meaning "novice, someone just starting to learn" is recorded in Malory's Morte d'Arthur (1470–85),[2] and Etymonline likewise dates it to the late 15th century.[6] Johnson (1755) still gave "he that gives the first cause, or original, to any thing" as the first sense, with a quotation from Spenser.[7] The older sense, a founder, survived in Lincolnshire dialect.[8] About 1613 the word was also used of someone who goes first or takes the lead,[2] and in architecture, from 1886, of the lower part of a mullion worked on the sill stone.[2] The phrase beginner's luck, first used in gambling, is recorded by 1849 in Etymonline, but only from 1896, in Kipling's Captains Courageous, in the OED.[6][2]

Timeline

  • early 14th century – founder, originator (Etymonline).[6]
  • c. 1400 – one who begins; an originator, in Pearl.[2]
  • 1470–85 – a novice, in Malory.[2]
  • c. 1613 – one who goes first (obsolete).[2]
  • 1849 – beginner's luck (Etymonline).[6]
  • 1886 – in architecture, the lower part of a mullion.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who has just started to do or learn something; a novice: a swimming class for beginners.[9][4][3]
  2. A person who begins or starts something; an originator or founder.[4][2][3]
  3. beginner's luck: the good luck said to come to someone trying a game or activity for the first time.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins