initial

American  

[ih-nish-uhl] / ɪˈnɪʃ əl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or occurring at the beginning; first.

   the initial step in a process.

2. Phonetics. occurring at the beginning of a word or syllable, as the (k) sound of kite, chasm, or quay.

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noun

initials plural

1. an initial letter, as of a word.

2. the first letter of a proper name.

3. a letter of extra size or an ornamental character used at the beginning of a chapter or other division of a book, manuscript, or the like.

verb (used with object)

initials, present (3rd person singular) initialed, past participle, past initialled, past participle, past initialing, present participle initialling present participle

1. to mark or sign with an initial or the initials of one's name, especially as a token of preliminary or informal approval.

initial British  

/ ɪˈnɪʃəl /

adjective

1. of, at, or concerning the beginning

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noun

1. the first letter of a word, esp a person's name

2. printing a large sometimes highly decorated letter set at the beginning of a chapter or work

3. botany a cell from which tissues and organs develop by division and differentiation; a meristematic cell

verb

1. (tr) to sign with one's initials, esp to indicate approval; endorse

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• initialer
  noun
• preinitial
  verb (used with object)
• subinitial
  verb (used with object)
• uninitialed
  adjective
• initially
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• initials
  plural

Participles

• initialing
  present
• initialling
  present
• initialed
  past
• initialled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• initial
  simple
• initials
  simple
• have initialed
  perfect
• have initialled
  perfect
• has initialed
  perfect
• has initialled
  perfect
• am initialing
  progressive
• am initialling
  progressive
• are initialing
  progressive
• are initialling
  progressive
• is initialing
  progressive
• is initialling
  progressive
• have been initialing
  perfect progressive
• have been initialling
  perfect progressive
• has been initialing
  perfect progressive
• has been initialling
  perfect progressive

Past

• initialed
  simple
• initialled
  simple
• had initialed
  perfect
• had initialled
  perfect
• was initialing
  progressive
• was initialling
  progressive
• were initialing
  progressive
• were initialling
  progressive
• had been initialing
  perfect progressive
• had been initialling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will initial
  simple
• will have initialed
  perfect
• will have initialled
  perfect
• will be initialing
  progressive
• will be initialling
  progressive
• will have been initialing
  perfect progressive
• will have been initialling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of initial

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin initiālis, equivalent to initi(um) “beginning” ( init-, noun derivative of inīre “to enter, begin”; in- in- ² + īre “to go”; cf. comes) + -ium -ium ) + -alis -al ¹

Explanation

The first letter of your name is your initial. The first thing you say to someone is your initial greeting. Initial is something that occurs first or at the beginning. If someone asks you to initial a form, they're asking you to sign by writing your initials on it. If your name is Inna Instant, you would write I.I., and you'd probably write it really quick! The first draft of a paper might be called your initial pass at getting your ideas down. If you say that these are your initial ideas, it implies that you will be coming up with more.

Related Words

• basic
• introductory
• original