initiate

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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 + (go).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

initiate (plural initiates)

  1. A new member of an organization.
  2. One who has been through a ceremony of initiation.
  3. 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?
    • 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 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 , 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

Antonyms

Derived terms

Translations

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

See also

  • resume (to begin where one left off)

Adjective

initiate (comparative more initiate, superlative most initiate)

  1. (obsolete) Unpractised; untried; new.
  2. (obsolete) Begun; commenced; introduced to, or instructed in, the rudiments; newly admitted.

Further reading

Latin

Participle

initiāte

  1. vocative masculine singular of initiātus