initiative

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See also: Initiative

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French initiative, from Medieval Latin *initiativus (serving to initiate), from Late Latin initiare (to begin, Latin initiate), from Latin initium (beginning), from ineo (enter, begin).

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ɪˈnɪʃətɪv/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪʃətɪv

Adjective[edit]

initiative (not comparable)

  1. Serving to initiate; inceptive; initiatory; introductory; preliminary.
  2. In which voter initiatives can be brought to the ballot.
    • a. 2008, John G. Matsusaka, "Direct Democracy and the Executive Branch", in, 2008, Shaun Bowler and Amihai Glazer, editors, Direct Democracy's Impact on American Political Institutions, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 122 [1]:
      The second row shows that initiative states fill more constitutional offices by election than noninitiative states, and the difference is statistically significant after controlling for region and population.

Antonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

initiative (countable and uncountable, plural initiatives)

  1. A beginning; a first move.
  2. A new development; a fresh approach to something; a new way of dealing with a problem.
  3. The ability to act first or on one's own.
  4. (politics) An issue to be voted on, brought to the ballot by a sufficient number of signatures from among the voting public.
    Hyponym: direct initiative

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Further reading[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Medieval Latin *initiativus (serving to initiate), from Late Latin initiare (to begin, Latin initiate), from Latin initium (beginning), from ineo (enter, begin).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

initiative f (plural initiatives)

  1. initiative
    prendre l’initiativeto take the initiative
    faire preuve d’initiativeto show initiative

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]