Spring water emerges - life's little beginnings (4)
I believe the answer is:
well
'spring' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'water emerges life's little beginnings' is the wordplay.
'beginnings' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letters of 'water emerges lifes little' is 'WELL'.
(Other definitions for well that I've seen before include "Underground source" , "Waterhole; healthy" , "Facial hair" , "Profoundly" , "Very; deep shaft" .)