initiate

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin initiātus, perfect passive participle of initiō (“begin, originate”), from initium (“a beginning”), from ineō (“go in, enter upon, begin”), from in + eō (“go”).

Pronunciation

• (verb) IPA^(key): /ɪˈnɪʃ.i.eɪt/, /ɪˈnɪʃ.ɪ.eɪt/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (noun, adjective) IPA^(key): /ɪˈnɪʃ.i.ət/, /ɪˈnɪʃ.ɪ.ət/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Hyphenation: ini‧ti‧ate

Noun

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.

   Antonym: noninitiate

   Coordinate terms: expert, nonexpert, layperson, amateur, dilettante, journeyman, master

Translations

Verb

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?

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 and J 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 , volumes (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.
   • 1725–1726, Homer, “Book 3”, in [William Broome, Elijah Fenton, and Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. , London: Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:

     The king himself initiates to the power; Scatters with quivering hand the sacred flour, And the stream sprinkles.

Synonyms

• (to begin): commence

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "to begin"): stop, end, cease

  • (to end temporarily) pause, halt, suspend
  • (to end incompletely) discontinue
  • (to end completely) finish, conclude, complete

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• resume (to begin where one left off)

Adjective

initiate (comparative more initiate, superlative most initiate)

1. (obsolete) Unpractised; untried; new.
   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     the initiate fear that wants hard use

2. (obsolete) Begun; commenced; introduced to, or instructed in, the rudiments; newly admitted.
   • 1744, [Edward Young], “Night the Sixth. The Infidel Reclaim’d. In Two Parts. Containing, the Nature, Proof, and Importance of Immortality. Part the First. ”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality, London: R Dodsley , →OCLC, page 6:

     To rise in science as in bliss, / Initiate in the secrets of the skies.

Further reading

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

Latin

Participle

initiāte

1. vocative masculine singular of initiātus