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Origin and history of beginner

beginner(n.)

early 14c., "founder, originator," agent noun from begin. The meaning "novice" is from late 15c. Beginner's luck is by 1849, originally in gambling.

also from early 14c.

Entries linking to beginner

begin(v.)

Old English beginnan "to attempt, undertake," a rare word beside the more usual form onginnan (class III strong verb; past tense ongann, past participle ongunnen); from be- + West Germanic *ginnan, which is of obscure etymology and found only in compounds, perhaps "to open, open up" (compare Old High German in-ginnan "to cut open, open up," also "begin, undertake"), with sense evolution from "open" to "begin." Cognates elsewhere in Germanic include Old Frisian biginna "to begin," Middle Dutch beghinnen, Old High German beginnan, German beginnen, Old Frisian bijenna "to begin," Gothic duginnan.

From late 12c. as "originate, be the originator of;" from c. 1200 as "take the first step in, start to deal with." Intransitive sense "come into existence" is from mid-13c.

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    founder
    early 14c. "to send to the bottom" (transitive); late 14c., "to sink or fall" (intransitive), from Old French fondrer "collapse; submerge, sink, fall to the bottom" (Modern French fondrier), from fond "bottom" (12c.), from Latin fundus "bottom, foundation" (see fund (n.)). Not es
    father
    Middle English fader, from Old English fæder "he who begets a child, nearest male ancestor;" also "any lineal male ancestor; the Supreme Being," and by late Old English, "one who exercises parental care over another," from Proto-Germanic *fader (source also of Old Saxon fadar, Ol
    novice
    mid-14c., "probationer in a religious order," from Old French novice "beginner" (12c.), from Medieval Latin novicius, noun use of Latin novicius "newly imported, newly arrived, inexperienced" (of slaves), from novus "new" (see new). Meaning "inexperienced person, one new to his c
    sampler
    The meaning "embroidery specimen by a beginner to show skill," (1520s) is probably originally meant as "piece of embroidery...
    tango
    know what houses to avoid by indicating in some way on their invitation cards whether the 'turkey-trot,' the 'Boston' (the beginner...
    tenderfoot
    1866, American English, originally of newcomers to ranching or mining districts, from tender (adj.) + foot (n.). The U.S. equivalent of what in Great Britain was generally called a greenhand. As a level in Boy Scouting, it is recorded from 1908. Among the Indians, more than half
    initiate
    "one who has been initiated" (in secret doctrines, etc.), 1732, from obsolete or archaic past-participle adjective initiate "initiated, instructed in secret knowledge" (c. 1600), from Latin initiatus (see initiate (v.))....c. 1600, "introduce to some practice or system," also "be
    rookie
    "raw recruit," 1868, a word popularized by Kipling's "Barrack-Room Ballads" (1892) but one of uncertain origin, perhaps from recruit and influenced by rook (n.1) in its secondary sense, suggesting "easy to cheat." Barrère ["A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant," 1890] has "Ro
    neophyte
    c. 1400, neophite, "new convert" (modern spelling from 16c.), from Church Latin neophytus, from Greek neophytos "a new convert; one newly initiated," noun use of adjective meaning "newly initiated, newly converted," literally "newly planted," from neos "new" (see new) + phytos "g
    Tory
    1566, "an outlaw," specifically "one of a class of Irish robbers noted for outrages and savage cruelty," from Irish toruighe "plunderer," originally "pursuer, searcher," from Old Irish toirighim "I pursue," from toir "pursuit," from Celtic *to-wo-ret- "a running up to," from PIE

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