Started

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: [ˈstɑɹɾɪd]

Definitions

1. Commenced an action or task, signifying the beginning of an event or process
2. Began an activity or process, thereby marking the initiation of an event or action
3. To cause something to begin or come into existence

Etymology: The verb "start" has a surprisingly physical past. Its earliest sense was a sudden leap or jolt, the way a startled animal or person jumps, and only later did it come to mean beginning something. Old English "styrtan" meant "to leap up, start," and Middle English "sterten" carried the same sense of rushing out or leaping up suddenly. The word's roots go back to a Proto-West Germanic form meaning "to startle, move, set in motion," which connects it to a family of Germanic verbs for falling, plunging, or tumbling, such as German "stürzen." Its link to a body part is a separate matter. The noun "start," meaning a tail or handle, comes from Old English "steort," and it is a different word that happens to share the spelling. Its many cognates across Scandinavian and Germanic languages mean "tail," which is a neat reminder that the modern verb grew from a jump rather than a tail.

Synonyms: began, commenced, initiated, launched, opened

Antonyms: ended, finished, concluded, terminated, closed