initial

English

Etymology

From French, from Latin initialis (“of the beginning, incipient, initial”), from initium (“a going in, entrance, beginning”), from inire (“to go in, enter upon, begin”), from in (“in”) + ire (“to go”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈnɪʃəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪʃəl

Adjective

initial (not comparable)

1. Chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning, cause or origin.

   Our initial admiration for their efficiency gave way to disgust about their methods.

   The initial stages of a syndrome may differ vastly from the final symptoms.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess^[1]:

     Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.

2. Spatially first, placed at the beginning, in the first position; especially said of the first letter of a word.

   The initial letter of names is usually printed with a capital letter.

   • 1893, Walter Besant, The Ivory Gate, Prologue:

     Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.

Synonyms

• incipient
• opening

Antonyms

• final

Derived terms

• initially
• initialness

Translations

Chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning

• Catalan: inicial
• Czech: počáteční, výchozí
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} initieel (nl), ^{(please verify)} aanvankelijk (nl), ^{(please verify)} begin- (nl), ^{(please verify)} vroeg (nl)
• Finnish: alku-, alkuperäinen (fi), varhainen (fi), esi- (fi), alustava (fi)
• French: initial (fr)
• German: anfänglich (de), ursprünglich (de)
• Greek: αρχικός (el) (archikós)

• Italian: iniziale (it)
• Japanese: 初期の (ja) (shoki no), 始めの (hajime no)
• Portuguese: inicial (pt)
• Russian: нача́льный (ru) (načálʹnyj), исхо́дный (ru) (isxódnyj), первонача́льный (ru) (pervonačálʹnyj), перви́чный (ru) (pervíčnyj), оригина́льный (ru) (originálʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: tùsail
• Spanish: inicial (es)
• Turkish: ilk (tr)

Spatially first, placed at the beginning, in the first position

• Catalan: inicial
• Czech: počáteční
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} initieel (nl), ^{(please verify)} eerste (nl), ^{(please verify)} begin- (nl), ^{(please verify)} voorste (nl)
• Finnish: ensimmäinen (fi)
• French: initial (fr)
• German: anfänglich (de), erster (de)

• Italian: iniziale (it)
• Japanese: 最初の (ja) (saisho no), 始めの (hajime no)
• Portuguese: inicial (pt)
• Russian: нача́льный (ru) (načálʹnyj), пе́рвый (ru) (pérvyj)
• Turkish: ön (tr), ilk (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} komenca
• Estonian: ^{(please verify)} esialgne

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} inicial (es)

Noun

initial P (calligraphy)

initial (plural initials)

1. The first letter of a word or a name.
2. In plural, the first letter of each word of a person's full name considered as a unit

   You can get your initials printed at the top.

3. (typography, calligraphy) A distinguished initial letter of a chapter or section of a document.
4. (phonology) onset, part of a syllable that precedes the syllable nucleus in phonetics and phonology.

Synonyms

• (typography, calligraphy): drop cap, versal

Derived terms

• initialism
• initial teaching alphabet

Translations

first letter of a word

• Arabic: حَرْف أَوَّلِيّ‏‎ m (ḥarf ʾawwaliyy)
• Armenian: սկզբնատառ (hy) (skzbnataṙ)
• Catalan: inicial
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 頭文字 (zh), 头文字 (zh) (tóuwénzì)

• Dutch: beginletter, initiaal (nl), (for first names only) voorletter (nl)
• Finnish: alkukirjain (fi)
• French: lettrine (fr) f, initiale (fr) f, première lettre f
• German: Anfangsbuchstabe (de) m
• Greek: αρχικό γράμμα n (archikó grámma)
• Icelandic: upphafsstafur m

• Irish: túslitir f
• Japanese: 頭文字 (かしらもじ, kashiramoji)
• Korean: 두문자 (ko) (dumunja)
• Portuguese: inicial (pt) f
• Russian: нача́льная бу́ква f (načálʹnaja búkva)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: иницијал m

  Roman: inicijal (sh) m

• Swedish: initial (sv) c
• Turkish: başlak (tr)

first letters of a person's name as a unit

• Catalan: inicials pl
• Esperanto: inicialo, inicialoj pl
• Finnish: nimikirjaimet pl
• French: initiale (fr) f
• Galician: iniciais f pl
• Greek: μονογραφή (el) f (monografí)

• Icelandic: fangamark n, upphafsstafir m pl
• Japanese: イニシャル (inisharu)
• Russian: инициа́л (ru) m (iniciál)
• Spanish: iniciales (es) f pl
• Turkish: başlak (tr), başlaklar pl

calligraphy: distinguished initial letter

• Catalan: caplletra (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 首字放大 (shǒuzì fàngdà)

• Finnish: anfangi (fi)
• French: lettrine (fr) f

• German: Initiale (de) f, Initial n
• Greek: πρωτόγραμμα (el) n (protógramma), πρωτόγραμμα (el) n (protógramma)
• Japanese: イニシャル (inisharu)
• Russian: бу́квица (ru) f (búkvica), инициа́л (ru) m (iniciál)
• Turkish: başlak (tr)

first part of a syllable (onset)

• Catalan: obertura (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 聲母 (zh), 声母 (zh) (shēngmǔ), 聲紐 (zh), 声纽 (zh) (shēngniǔ), 音紐, 音纽 (yīnniǔ), 紐 (zh), 纽 (zh) (niǔ)

• French: initiale (fr) f

• Japanese: 声母 (せいぼ, seibo)
• Korean: 성모 (seongmo) (聲母), 초성 (ko) (choseong), 첫소리 (cheotsori)
• Russian: инициа́ль (ru) f (iniciálʹ)
• Vietnamese: thanh mẫu (聲母)

Verb

initial (third-person singular simple present initials, present participle initialing or initialling, simple past and past participle initialed or initialled)

1. (transitive) To sign one's initial(s), as an abbreviated signature.

   Please initial each page and sign the contract in full at the bottom.

Translations

to sign one's initial(s)

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 签首字母 (qian shou-zi-mu), 草签 (zh) (cao-qian)

• Dutch: paraferen (nl)
• Finnish: vahvistaa nimikirjaimilla, parafoida
• French: parapher (fr)

• Greek: μονογραφώ (el) (monografó)
• Portuguese: rubricar
• Russian: парафи́ровать (ru) (parafírovatʹ)
• Turkish: başlak atmak, başlaklamak

See also

• middle

Related terms

• initiate
• initiation
• initiative
• initialize
• init

Further reading

• initial in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• initial in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• initial at OneLook Dictionary Search

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.ni.sjal/
• Rhymes: -al

Etymology

From Latin initialis, from initium 'beginning'

Adjective

initial (feminine singular initiale, masculine plural initiaux, feminine plural initiales)

1. initial

Related terms

• initiale
• initialement
• initialiser

Further reading

• “initial” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iniˈt͡sɪ̯aːl/

Adjective

initial (not comparable)

1. initial, incipient

Declension

Declension of initial

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter	all genders
predicative		er ist initial	sie ist initial	es ist initial	sie sind initial
strong declension (without article)	nominative	initialer	initiale	initiales	initiale
	genitive	initialen	initialer	initialen	initialer
	dative	initialem	initialer	initialem	initialen
	accusative	initialen	initiale	initiales	initiale
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der initiale	die initiale	das initiale	die initialen
	genitive	des initialen	der initialen	des initialen	der initialen
	dative	dem initialen	der initialen	dem initialen	den initialen
	accusative	den initialen	die initiale	das initiale	die initialen
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein initialer	eine initiale	ein initiales	(keine) initialen
	genitive	eines initialen	einer initialen	eines initialen	(keiner) initialen
	dative	einem initialen	einer initialen	einem initialen	(keinen) initialen
	accusative	einen initialen	eine initiale	ein initiales	(keine) initialen

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin initialis

Noun

initial m (definite singular initialen, indefinite plural initialer, definite plural initialene)

1. an initial (first letter of a name)

References

• “initial” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin initialis

Noun

initial m (definite singular initialen, indefinite plural initialar, definite plural initialane)

1. an initial (first letter of a name)

References

• “initial” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.