beginner

Etymology

From Middle English begynner, equivalent to begin + -er. Cognate with West Frisian begjinner (“beginner”), Dutch beginner (“beginner”), Low German begünner (“beginner”), Danish nybegynder (“beginner, novice”, literally “new-beginner”).

noun

1. Someone who is just starting at something, or has only recently started.
   I'm new to learning Finnish: I'm just a beginner.
2. Someone who sets something in motion.
   The beginner of the games lit the ceremonial torch.
3. (theater) An actor who is present on stage in the first moments of a play.
   On the stage, the beginners for the first piece had taken their places — the chorus were there, scared but determined, and in the wings waited Harlequin, in the person of Charles Lyall […] 1949, Walter Macqueen-Pope, Gaiety: Theatre of Enchantment, page 60