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From Middle French initial or directly from its Latin etymon initiālis (“of the beginning, incipient, initial”), from initium (“a going in, entrance”), from inīre (“to go into, enter”), from in (“in”) + ire (“to go”).

• enPR: ĭ-nĭsh′(ə)l; IPA^(key): /ɪˈnɪʃ.əl/, [ɪˈnɪʃ.(ə̯)l̩]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪʃəl
• Hyphenation: in‧i‧tial

initial (not comparable)

1. 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: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     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.

   • 2021 January 13, David Clough, “Trans-Pennine transport transformers”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 58:

     While the first part to Manchester is level after the initial climb out of Liverpool, the section over the Pennines between Manchester and Leeds is very difficult, with steep gradients as well as many slowings over junctions and curves.

2. 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 […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:

     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.

• incipient
• inceptive
• opening

• final

initial (plural initials)

1. The first letter of a word or a name, especially of a person's full name (their initials).
   • 1952 February, H. C. Casserley, “Permanent Wayfarings”, in Railway Magazine, page 77:

     The point of interest about this particular specimen was that it must have remained intact for at least a quarter of a century, as it had embossed in the frosted glass the initials of the old Great North of Scotland Railway in the form of a scroll, the sort of relic of pre-grouping days that can still be found here and there if one is observant.

2. (typography, calligraphy) A distinguished initial letter of a chapter or section of a document.
3. (phonology) onset, part of a syllable that precedes the syllable nucleus in phonetics and phonology.

• (typography, calligraphy): drop cap, versal

initial (third-person singular simple present initials, present participle (US) initialing or (UK) initialling, simple past and past participle (US) initialed or (UK) initialled)

1. (transitive) To sign one's initial(s), as an abbreviated signature.

   Please initial each page and sign the contract in full at the bottom.

• middle

• “initial”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “initial”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “initial”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Inherited from Middle French initial, from Latin initiālis, from initium (“a going in, entrance”).

• IPA^(key): /i.ni.sjal/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Rhymes: -al

initial (feminine initiale, masculine plural initiaux, feminine plural initiales)

1. initial

• → Dutch: initiaal, initieel

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

• IPA^(key): /iniˈt͡sɪ̯aːl/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

initial (strong nominative masculine singular initialer, not comparable)

1. initial, incipient

From Latin initiālis.

initial m (definite singular initialen, indefinite plural initialer, definite plural initialene)

1. an initial (first letter of a name)

• “initial” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Latin initiālis.

initial m (definite singular initialen, indefinite plural initialar, definite plural initialane)

1. an initial (first letter of a name)

• “initial” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.