biginnan (Proto-West Germanic)

Where does "biginnan" come from?

The Proto-West Germanic verb 'biginnan', meaning 'to start, to begin'[1], was formed using the prefix '*bi-' combined with '*ginnan'[1]. This simplex verb descends from Proto-Germanic '*ginnaną'[1].

Open questions

• The simplex verb is not attested and must be derived from Proto-Germanic. [1]
• The ultimate Proto-Indo-European origin of the root is disputed, with different scholars tracing it to roots meaning 'to take', 'to arise, begin', or 'to gape, to yawn'. [2]

Full etymology tree

• *biginnan (Proto-West Germanic), 'to start, to begin'
  • compound *bi- (Proto-West Germanic)
  • compound *ginnan (Proto-West Germanic)
    • derived *ginnaną (Proto-Germanic), 'to begin'
      • derived *gʰed- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to find'

Ancestors

• *ginnaną (Proto-Germanic)

Descendants and derived words

• biginnan (Old Dutch)
• beginnan (Old English)
• biginnan (Old High German)
• biginnan (Old Saxon)

Sources

1. biginnan (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
2. ginnaną (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris