Every story, storm and business has a start, and English has a crowd of words for it. Three are verbs for starting: commence, initiate and inaugurate. Three are nouns for the start itself: inception, genesis and onset. Four are adjectives for things that have only just begun: nascent, incipient, fledgling and rudimentary.
Key idea
Listen for tone. Onset and incipient usually announce something unwelcome (the onset of a storm, an incipient leak). Nascent and fledgling are hopeful: something new is growing. Inaugurate means a formal ceremony.
The ten words
Common mistake
nascent and incipient are close; incipient often warns of something unwelcome (an incipient problem). fledgling comes from a young bird learning to fly.
| part of speech | words | notes |
|---|---|---|
| verbs: to begin | commence, initiate, inaugurate | inaugurate = with a ceremony |
| nouns: the beginning | inception, genesis, onset | onset = of something unwelcome |
| adjectives: just begun | nascent, incipient, fledgling, rudimentary | incipient often warns; fledgling = new and untested; rudimentary = basic |
Fledgling comes from a young bird that has just grown the feathers to fly. A fledgling business, like the bird, is new, wobbly and still learning.