happening, natural event, occurrence - an event that happens

casus belli - an event used to justify starting a war

egress, emergence, issue - the becoming visible; "not a day's difference between the emergence of the andrenas and the opening of the willow catkins"

inception, origination, origin - an event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events

genesis, generation - a coming into being

ground floor - becoming part of a venture at the beginning (regarded as position of advantage); "he got in on the ground floor"

emergence, outgrowth, growth - the gradual beginning or coming forth; "figurines presage the emergence of sculpture in Greece"

start - the beginning of anything; "it was off to a good start"

conception, creation - the event that occurred at the beginning of something; "from its creation the plan was doomed to failure"

birth - the time when something begins (especially life); "they divorced after the birth of the child"; "his election signaled the birth of a new age"

incipience, incipiency - beginning to exist or to be apparent; "he placed the incipience of democratic faith at around 1850"; "it is designed to arrest monopolies in their incipiency"

point in time, point - an instant of time; "at that point I had to leave"

starting point, terminus a quo - earliest limiting point

threshold - the starting point for a new state or experience; "on the threshold of manhood"

division, part, section - one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole; "the written part of the exam"; "the finance section of the company"; "the BBC's engineering division"

derivation - the source from which something derives (i.e. comes or issues); "he prefers shoes of Italian derivation"

spring - a point at which water issues forth

headspring, fountainhead, head - the source of water from which a stream arises; "they tracked him back toward the head of the stream"

headwaters - the source of a river; "the headwaters of the Nile"

wellhead, wellspring - the source of water for a well

jumping-off place, point of departure - a place from which an enterprise or expedition is launched; "one day when I was at a suitable jumping-off place I decided to see if I could find him"; "my point of departure was San Francisco"

place of origin, provenance, birthplace, cradle - where something originated or was nurtured in its early existence; "the birthplace of civilization"

home - place where something began and flourished; "the United States is the home of basketball"

point source - a spatially constricted by concentrated source (especially of radiation or pollution)

trail head, trailhead - the beginning of a trail

point - the precise location of something; a spatially limited location; "she walked to a point where she could survey the whole street"

change of state - the act of changing something into something different in essential characteristics

jumping-off point, point of departure, springboard - a beginning from which an enterprise is launched; "he uses other people's ideas as a springboard for his own"; "reality provides the jumping-off point for his illusions"; "the point of departure of international comparison cannot be an institution but must be the function it carries out"

activation - making active and effective (as a bomb)

tone-beginning, attack - a decisive manner of beginning a musical tone or phrase

establishment, constitution, organization, formation, organisation - the act of forming something; "the constitution of a PTA group last year"; "it was the establishment of his reputation"; "he still remembers the organization of the club"

Creation - (theology) God's act of bringing the universe into existence

first appearance, debut, entry, introduction, launching, unveiling - the act of beginning something new; "they looked forward to the debut of their new product line"

face-off - (ice hockey) the method of starting play; a referee drops the puck between two opposing players

first step, opening move, initiative, opening - the first of a series of actions; "he memorized all the important chess openings"

groundbreaking, groundbreaking ceremony - the ceremonial breaking of the ground to formally begin a construction project

housing start - the act of starting to construct a house

icebreaker - a beginning that relaxes a tense or formal atmosphere; "he told jokes as an icebreaker"

inauguration, startup - the act of starting a new operation or practice; "he opposed the inauguration of fluoridation"; "the startup of the new factory was delayed by strikes"

founding, instauration, origination, initiation, innovation, creation, institution, introduction, foundation - the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new; "she looked forward to her initiation as an adult"; "the foundation of a new scientific society"; "he regards the fork as a modern introduction"

installation, installing, instalment, installment - the act of installing something (as equipment); "the telephone installation took only a few minutes"

jump ball - (basketball) the way play begins or resumes when possession is disputed; an official tosses the ball up between two players who jump in an effort to tap it to a teammate

kickoff - (football) a kick from the center of the field to start a football game or to resume it after a score

recommencement, resumption - beginning again

scrum, scrummage - (rugby) the method of beginning play in which the forwards of each team crouch side by side with locked arms; play starts when the ball thrown in between them and the two sides compete for possession

startup - the act of setting in operation; "repeated shutdowns and startups are expensive"

opening - first or beginning; "the memorable opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth"; "the play's opening scene"