Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

begun

/bɪˈɡʌn/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.36 in modern English

Syllables: be-gun
IPA: /bɪˈɡʌn/

8

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

past participle of begin

verb

simple past of begin

Obsolete

adj

Having begun.

name

Example Sentences

"... when he should take the sield, that city was persuaded to complete the regiment they had begun to form, under the command of a Colonel whom the King had recommended to them ; which they did raise to the number of a thousand men."
"When we've been there ten thousand years, Bright shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing God's praise, Than when we first begun."

Etymology

Two possible origins: * Borrowed from Russian бегу́н (begún, “runner”), a nickname used in the local Jewish community. Doublet of Biegun and Bihun, from Polish and Ukrainian respectively. * A variant of Begum, an Indian surname found in the Muslim community.

Origin

Source language: Russian

Word Breakdown

Root: бегу́н

Usage

Obsolete

Inflected Forms

Beguns (plural)

Phrases

well begun is half done

Rhymes With

one done run fun son won sun gun none un ton jun

Questions

How do you pronounce begun?: The recorded pronunciation is /bɪˈɡʌn/.
What does begun mean?: past participle of begin
Where does begun come from?: It is traced to Russian.

How to pronounce begun

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “begun”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/bɪˈɡʌn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “begun”.
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