start

English Online Dictionary. What means start‎? What does start mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /stɑːt/
• (General American) enPR: stärt, IPA^(key): /stɑɹt/
• (Canada) enPR: stärt, IPA^(key): /stɑɹt/, [stäɹt]
  • (Ottawa Valley) IPA^(key): /stæɹt/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)t

Etymology 1

From Middle English stert, from the verb sterten (“to start, startle”). See below.

Noun

start (plural starts)

1. The beginning of an activity.
2. A sudden involuntary movement.
3. The beginning point of a race, a board game, etc.

4. An appearance in a sports game, horserace, etc., from the beginning of the event.
5. (horticulture) A young plant germinated in a pot to be transplanted later.
6. An initial advantage over somebody else; a head start.

   to get, or have, the start

7. (UK, slang, archaic) A happening or proceeding.

Derived terms

Descendants

• → German: Start
• → Persian: استارت (estârt)

Translations

Etymology 2

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.

Verb

start (third-person singular simple present starts, present participle starting, simple past and past participle started)

1. (transitive) To begin, commence, initiate.
   1. To set in motion.
      • April 2, 1716, Joseph Addison, Freeholder No. 30

        I was some years ago engaged in conversation with a fashionable French Abbe, upon a subject which the people of that kingdom love to start in discourse.
   2. To begin.

      The President fired the gun to start the footrace.
   4. To ready the operation of a vehicle or machine.

   5. To put or raise (a question, an objection); to put forward (a subject for discussion).
   6. To bring onto being or into view; to originate; to invent.
2. (intransitive) To begin an activity.
3. (intransitive) To have its origin (at), begin.

4. To startle or be startled; to move or be moved suddenly.
   1. (intransitive) To jerk suddenly in surprise.
   2. (intransitive) To awaken suddenly.
   3. (transitive) To disturb and cause to move suddenly; to startle; to alarm; to rouse; to cause to flee or fly.
   4. (intransitive) To flinch or draw back.
   5. (transitive) To move suddenly from its place or position; to displace or loosen; to dislocate.
5. (intransitive) To break away, to come loose.
6. (transitive, sports) To put into play.
7. (transitive, nautical) To pour out; to empty; to tap and begin drawing from.

8. (intransitive, euphemistic) To start one's periods (menstruation).

Usage notes

• In uses 1.1 and 1.2 this is a catenative verb that takes the infinitive (to) or the gerund (-ing) form. There is no change in meaning.
• For more information, see Appendix:English catenative verbs

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “to begin”):

  • (to stop) stop, end, cease
  • (to finish) finish, conclude, complete

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Cantonese: 撻 / 挞 (taat¹)
• → Dutch: starten
• → German: starten
• → Norman: stèrter
• → French: starter
• → Icelandic: starta
• → Faroese: starta
• → Norwegian Bokmål: starte
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: starta
• → Swedish: starta
• → Danish: starte
• → Slovak: štartovať

Translations

Noun

start (plural starts)

1. An instance of starting.

Derived terms

• hard start

See also

See also the terms derived from starting.

Etymology 3

From Middle English stert, start (“tail, handle, projection”), from Old English steort, 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”), Swedish stjärt (“tail, arse”).

Noun

start (plural starts)

1. A projection or protrusion; that which pokes out.
2. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) A handle, especially that of a plough.
3. The curved or inclined front and bottom of a water wheel bucket.
4. The arm, or level, of a gin, drawn around by a horse.

Derived terms

• clubstart
• redstart

Etymology 4

Variant of stark.

Adverb

start (comparative more start, superlative most start)

1. (dialectal, archaic) Completely, utterly.

References

Anagrams

• Strat, trats, tarts, strat, Tarts

Breton

Adjective

start

1. firm, strong
2. difficult

Derived terms

• startijenn

Further reading

• Herve Ar Bihan, Colloquial Breton, pages 16 and 268: define "start" as "hard, difficult, firm"

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

Borrowed from English start.

Noun

start

1. start

Declension

References

• Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[3], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from English start.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈstart]

Noun

start m inan

1. start (beginning point of a race)

Declension

Related terms

See also

• cíl m

Further reading

• “start”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “start”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English start.

Noun

start c (singular definite starten, plural indefinite starter)

1. start

Inflection

Verb

start

1. imperative of starte

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stɑrt/
• Hyphenation: start
• Rhymes: -ɑrt

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English start.

Noun

start m (plural starts, diminutive startje n)

1. start

Derived terms

• pikstart
• startbaan
• starten
• startpunt

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

start

1. inflection of starten:
   1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

German

Verb

start

1. singular imperative of starten

Maltese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstart/

Verb

start

1. first/second-person singular perfect of satar

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English start.

Noun

start m (definite singular starten, indefinite plural starter, definite plural startene)

1. a start

   fra start til mål ― from start to finish

Derived terms

• omstart
• startsted

Etymology 2

Verb

start

1. imperative of starte

References

• “start” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from English start.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /stɑrt/

Noun

start m (definite singular starten, indefinite plural startar, definite plural startane)

1. a start (beginning)

Verb

start

1. imperative of starta

Derived terms

• omstart

References

• “start” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English start.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstart/
• Rhymes: -art
• Syllabification: start

Noun

start m inan

1. (sports) start (beginning of a race)
2. (aviation) takeoff

3. participation

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• start in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• start in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English start.

Noun

start m (plural starts)

1. Alternative form of estarte

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English start.

Noun

start n (plural starturi)

1. start (of a race)

Declension

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English start.

Pronunciation

Noun

start c

1. a start; a beginning (of a race)
2. the starting (of an engine)

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

• starta
• starter
• startare

References

• start in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

Anagrams

• ratts, trast

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from English start.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [staɾt]
• Hyphenation: start

Noun

start (definite accusative startı, plural startlar)

1. start

Usage notes

Turkish phonotactics disallows complex syllable onsets, thus speakers may epenthesize a vowel after the first consonant, pronouncing it as [sɯtaɾt].

Declension

Antonyms

• finiş