initiative

See also: Initiative

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French initiative, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Medieval Latin *initiativus (“serving to initiate”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Late Latin initiare (“to begin, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin initiate”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin initium (“beginning”), from ineo (“enter, begin”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈnɪʃətɪv/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪʃətɪv

Adjective

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

• noninitiative

Translations

serving to initiate

• Bulgarian: начален (bg) (načalen), встъпителен (bg) (vstǎpitelen)
• Portuguese: iniciativo, iniciador
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Serbo-Croatian: inicijativno (sh)

Noun

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. An issue to be voted on, brought to the ballot by a sufficient number of signatures from among the voting public.

Synonyms

• (issue to be voted on): direct initiative

Derived terms

• direct initiative

Related terms

• initial
• initialism
• initialization
• initialize
• initiate
• initiation

 

Translations

a beginning; a first move

• Armenian: նախաձեռնություն (hy) (naxajeṙnutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: təşəbbüs (az)
• Bashkir: башланғыс (başlanğıs)
• Bulgarian: начало (bg) n (načalo)
• Catalan: iniciativa (ca) f
• Czech: iniciativa (cs) f
• Danish: initiativ n
• Dutch: initiatief (nl)
• Finnish: aloite (fi)
• French: initiative (fr) f
• German: Initiative (de) f
• Greek: πρωτοβουλία (el) f (protovoulía)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: kezdeményezés (hu)
• Norwegian: initiativ (no) n pl
• Portuguese: iniciativa (pt) f
• Romanian: inițiativă (ro) f
• Russian: инициати́ва (ru) f (iniciatíva), почи́н (ru) m (počín)
• Serbo-Croatian: inicijatíva (sh) f
• Slovak: iniciatíva f
• Swedish: initiativ (sv) n
• Turkish: ilk adım (tr)
• Yiddish: איניציאַטיוו f (initsyativ)

a new development; a fresh approach to something; a new way of dealing with a problem

• Bashkir: башланғыс (başlanğıs)
• Bulgarian: начинание (bg) n (načinanie)
• Finnish: aloite (fi)
• French: initiative (fr) f
• German: Initiative (de) f
• Greek: πρωτοβουλία (el) f (protovoulía)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: инициати́ва (ru) f (iniciatíva)
• Serbo-Croatian: inicijatíva (sh) f
• Spanish: iniciativa (es) f
• Turkish: girişim (tr), teşebbüs (tr)
• Yiddish: איניציאַטיוו f (initsyativ)

the ability to act first or on one's own

• Bulgarian: предприемчивост (bg) f (predpriemčivost)
• Catalan: iniciativa (ca) f
• Finnish: aloitekyky, aloitteellisuus (fi), oma-aloitteisuus (fi)
• French: initiative (fr) f
• German: Initiative (de) f
• Greek: πρωτοβουλία (el) f (protovoulía)
• Hungarian: kezdeményezőkészség, kezdeményezőképesség (hu), vállalkozószellem
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: iniciativa (pt) f
• Romanian: inițiativă (ro) f
• Russian: инициати́ва (ru) f (iniciatíva), предприи́мчивость (ru) f (predpriímčivostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: inicijatíva (sh) f
• Turkish: girişim (tr), insiyatif (tr), teşebbüs (tr)
• Yiddish: איניציאַטיוו f (initsyativ)

issue to be voted on

• Bulgarian: инициатива (bg) f (iniciativa)
• Catalan: iniciativa (ca) f
• Finnish: aloite (fi), ehdotus (fi), esitys (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: iniziativa (it) f

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

Translations to be checked

• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} יוזמה f (yozma)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} iniziativa (it) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} iniciativa (es) f

Further reading

• “initiative”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “initiative”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “initiative”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

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French

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Medieval Latin *initiativus (“serving to initiate”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Late Latin initiare (“to begin, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin initiate”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin initium (“beginning”), from ineo (“enter, begin”).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

initiative f (plural initiatives)

1. initiative
   • Prendre l'initiative.

Derived terms

• syndicat d’initiative

Further reading

• “initiative”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.