start
n. countablen. the beginning of something or the first part of an event. You can also use it to describe the place where a race or journey begins.
n. the point in time or space at which something begins; the initial stage of an action or process.
We had a great start to our holiday.
The runners gathered at the start of the track, waiting for the official signal to begin the race.
The project's successful start was largely attributed to the meticulous planning and resource allocation conducted during the preliminary phase of the operation.
From Middle English stert, from the verb sterten (“to start, startle”). See below.
From Middle English sterten (“to leap up suddenly, rush out”), from Old English styrtan (“to leap up, start”), from Proto-West Germanic sturtijan (“to startle, move, set in motion”), from Proto-Indo-European (s)ter- (“to be stiff”). Cognate with Old Frisian stirta (“to fall down, tumble”), Middle Dutch sterten (“to rush, fall, collapse”) (Dutch storten), Old High German sturzen (“to hurl, plunge, turn upside down”) (German stürzen), Old High German sterzan (“to be stiff, protrude”). More at stare.
From Middle English stert, start (“tail, handle, projection”), from Old English steort (“tail”), from Proto-West Germanic stert, from Proto-Germanic stertaz (“tail”). Cognate with Scots start, stairt (“side post, shaft, upright post”), Dutch staart (“tail”), German Sterz (“tail, handle”), Danish stjert (“tail of a bird”), Faroese stertur (“tail”), Icelandic stertur (“short horse tail”), Norn skjårt (“tail”), sterti (“tail of a large fish”), stjårt (“tail of a large fish”), Norwegian stjert (“tail of a bird”), Swedish stjärt (“tail, arse”).
Variant of stark.
Often used with the preposition 'of' to indicate the beginning of a specific period or event.