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initiate

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Pronunciation

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  • (verb) IPA(key): /ɪˈnɪʃ.i.eɪt/, /ɪˈnɪʃ.ɪ.eɪt/
  • (noun, adjective) IPA(key): /ɪˈnɪʃ.i.ət/, /ɪˈnɪʃ.ɪ.ət/
  • Hyphenation: ini‧ti‧ate

Etymology 1

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Borrowed from Latin initiātus, perfect passive participle of initiō (“to begin, originate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from initium (“a beginning”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), from initus (“an entrance, coming in, approach”) + -ium, from ineō + -tus, from in- + eō (“to go”). Cognate with French initier.

Verb

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initiate (third-person singular simple present initiates, present participle initiating, simple past and past participle initiated)

  1. (transitive) To begin; to start.
    • 1860, Isaac Taylor, “(please specify the page)”, in Ultimate Civilization and Other Essays, London: Bell and Daldy […], →OCLC:
      How are changes of this sort to be initiated?
    • 1978, David Dhlalangami Maforo, Black-white Relations in Kenya Game Policy, page 5:
      Indigenous people, such as agriculturists, hunters, and pastoralists initiated a system of totemism and tabooism which in essence was a natural law against killing and eating certain animals.
    • 2011, Jim Baggott, The First War of Physics, Pegasus Books, →ISBN:
      A U235 bomb would therefore need to incorporate a gun weighing ten tons. Then there was the question of initiating or triggering the bomb.
    • 2014, David L. Elliott, Ultraviolet Laser Technology and Applications, page 320:
      Prior to firing the laser, a surgeon can preilluminate the area to be cut or ablated, enlarge or reduce the area, shape, or size, and then initiate the UV laser pulses for the actual ablation.
    • 2021 February 24, Encyclopedia of Virology, Academic Press, →ISBN, page 43:
      With the exception of anelloviruses, bidnaviruses, spiraviruses, and some inoviruses, the replicative protein of ssDNA viruses is the so-called HUH endonuclease that cuts genomic DNA at a specific site and initiates rolling circle (or rolling hairpin) replication.
  2. (transitive) To instruct in the rudiments or principles; to introduce.
    • 1653, Henry More, An Antidote against Atheisme, or An Appeal to the Natural Faculties of the Minde of Man, whether There Be Not a God, London: […] Roger Daniel, […], →OCLC:
      Divine Providence would only initiate and enter mankind into the useful knowledge of her, leaving the rest to employ our industry.
    • 1693, [John Locke], “§94”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC:
      to initiate his pupil in any part of learning
  3. (transitive) To confer membership on; especially, to admit to a secret order with mysterious rites or ceremonies.
    • 1738–1741, William Warburton, The Divine Legation of Moses […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II.1, or II.2), London: […] Fletcher Gyles, […], →OCLC:
      The Athenians believed that he who was initiated and instructed in the mysteries would obtain celestial honour after death.
    • 1714 August 15 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “WEDNESDAY, August 4, 1714”, in The Spectator, number 576; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume VI, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:
      He was initiated into half a dozen clubs before he was one and twenty.
      The spelling has been modernized.
  4. (intransitive) To do the first act; to perform the first rite; to take the initiative.
Synonyms
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Antonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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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
See also
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  • resume (to begin where one left off)

Etymology 2

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From a substantivization of the adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more. Cognate with French initié (“an initiate, neophyte”).

Noun

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initiate (plural initiates)

  2. A new member of an organization.
  4. One who has been through a ceremony of initiation.
  6. One who is oriented in and familiar with a topic or subject; especially, one who is an expert in it.
    Antonyms: noninitiate, novice
    Coordinate terms: expert, nonexpert; layperson, amateur, dilettante; insider, old hand; journeyman, master; learner, student, teacher
Translations
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Etymology 3

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Borrowed from Latin initiātus, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

Adjective

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initiate (comparative more initiate, superlative most initiate)

  1. (obsolete) Unpracticed, untried, new.
  2. (obsolete) Begun, commenced, introduced to or in the rudiments (of), newly admitted.

Further reading

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Latin

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Participle

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initiāte

  1. vocative masculine singular of initiātus
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