initial
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From French, from Latin initiālis (“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[edit]
Adjective[edit]
initial (not comparable)
- 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.
- 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.
- 1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], OCLC 16832619:
- 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[edit]
Antonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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- 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.
Noun[edit]
initial (plural initials)
- The first letter of a word or a name.
- 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.
- (typography, calligraphy) A distinguished initial letter of a chapter or section of a document.
- (phonology) onset, part of a syllable that precedes the syllable nucleus in phonetics and phonology.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Verb[edit]
initial (third-person singular simple present initials, present participle initialing or initialling, simple past and past participle initialed or initialled)
- (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[edit]
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Related terms[edit]
See also[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- 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
French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin initiālis, from initium (“beginning”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
initial (feminine singular initiale, masculine plural initiaux, feminine plural initiales)
Related terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “initial” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
German[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
initial (not comparable)
Declension[edit]
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 |
Norwegian Bokmål[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Noun[edit]
initial m (definite singular initialen, indefinite plural initialer, definite plural initialene)
- an initial (first letter of a name)
References[edit]
- “initial” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Noun[edit]
initial m (definite singular initialen, indefinite plural initialar, definite plural initialane)
- an initial (first letter of a name)
References[edit]
- “initial” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
- English terms derived from the PIE root *h₁ey-
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- Undetermined terms with quotations
- English terms with quotations
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Typography
- en:Calligraphy
- en:Phonology
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- French terms derived from Latin
- French 3-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French lemmas
- French adjectives
- German 3-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German adjectives
- German uncomparable adjectives
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns