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ab initio

American  
[ahb i-nit-ee-oh, ab i-nish-ee-oh] / ɑb ɪˈnɪt iˌoʊ, æb ɪˈnɪʃ iˌoʊ /

adverb

Latin.
  1. from the beginning.


ab initio British  
/ æb ɪˈnɪʃɪˌəʊ /
  1. from the start; from scratch

    ab initio courses

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

Many universities now offer "ab initio" undergraduate courses for languages, meaning you can start as a complete beginner - something Prof Koglbauer says has bolstered uptake.

From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2025

A new approach, known as wavefunction matching, is intended to help solve such calculation problems for ab initio methods.

From Science Daily ● May 15, 2024

While the research team focused exclusively on quantum Monte Carlo simulations, wavefunction matching should be useful for many different ab initio approaches.

From Science Daily ● May 15, 2024

The void ab initio doctrine has obvious application in SisterSong.

From Slate ● Nov. 16, 2022

In ideation the primal bases of thought must have been founded, ab initio, upon sensual perceptions; hence, must have been materialistic and natural.

From Religion and Lust or, The Psychical Correlation of Religious Emotion and Sexual Desire by James Weir

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