initial
Americanadjective
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of, relating to, or occurring at the beginning; first.
the initial step in a process.
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Phonetics. occurring at the beginning of a word or syllable, as the (k) sound of kite, chasm, or quay.
noun
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initials
plural
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an initial letter, as of a word.
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the first letter of a proper name.
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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)
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initials,
present (3rd person singular)
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initialed,
past participle, past
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initialled,
past participle, past (especially British)
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initialing,
present participle
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initialling
present participle (especially British)
adjective
noun
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the first letter of a word, esp a person's name
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printing a large sometimes highly decorated letter set at the beginning of a chapter or work
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botany a cell from which tissues and organs develop by division and differentiation; a meristematic cell
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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initialernoun
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preinitialverb (used with object)
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subinitialverb (used with object)
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uninitialedadjective
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initiallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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initialsimple
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initialssimple
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have initialedperfect
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have initialledperfect
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has initialedperfect
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has initialledperfect
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am initialingprogressive
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am initiallingprogressive
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are initialingprogressive
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are initiallingprogressive
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is initialingprogressive
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is initiallingprogressive
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have been initialingperfect progressive
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have been initiallingperfect progressive
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has been initialingperfect progressive
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has been initiallingperfect progressive
Past
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initialedsimple
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initialledsimple
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had initialedperfect
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had initialledperfect
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was initialingprogressive
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was initiallingprogressive
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were initialingprogressive
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were initiallingprogressive
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had been initialingperfect progressive
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had been initiallingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing initial
Tier 2 Words for the SBAC ELA Items
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Word Generation Science - Preparing a Scientific Investigation
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Anthropic is reportedly preparing an initial public share offering in the coming weeks that could see it valued at $2 trillion.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
In the years since, Duke and his colleagues have expanded on the initial scope of his dissertation to compile more evidence from a larger collection of samples.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
Back then, stocks were setting up for a historic comeback after nearly skidding into bear-market territory following the White House’s initial “liberation day” tariff rollout.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
The initial rollout of the program encouraged children to be invested broadly in American companies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Spanish physicians lacked the competence that Vesalius was used to, and initial hostility to him as a foreigner became exacerbated by the growth of the independence movement in the Netherlands, then ruled by Spain.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
Some pointed to reports that the driver of the BMW had the initials NSC and was born in 1961, leading to speculation that he was a former member of parliament.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
After getting fired, Eatherly pivoted, creating his own remodeling business, named after his initials, DLE Contracting.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
Ocasio-Cortez, widely known by her initials AOC, burst onto the national political scene with an upset congressional victory in 2018 and rapidly became a leading voice of the Democratic Party's left wing.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
The United Arab Emirates reported there was no local transmission when the patient, known by his initials M.S., was there.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
“And his initials are E.H., for Eugene Hammond,” Lloyd informed us.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
During his summation, Steinglass pointed to a document that had been initialed by Trump and called it “explicit” proof of his knowing that his executives were tinkering with expenses to reduce their tax liabilities.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2022
He testified to purchasing a car for $3,500 and initialed a blank sales agreement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
A small auction house in Massachusetts offered it for sale as a “an unidentified gentleman, initialed I.L., and dated 1652,” with an estimate of $200 to $300.
From New York Times ● Jun. 15, 2022
The Solomon Islands government says a draft of its agreement with China was initialed last week and will be “cleaned up” and signed soon.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 6, 2022
Franklin made such frequent appearances at the Taylors that he soon quickly initialed his communications, “B. F.”
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
The US State Department said technical teams had initialled the draft text on Wednesday, ahead of a formal signing ceremony next Friday to be witnessed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2025
He reminded the jury of that evidence, including a memo the former president initialled authorising a pay cut for another executive for the exact amount of his perk, rent paid by the company.
From BBC ● Dec. 7, 2022
Medinsky said Russia had made a second major de-escalatory step by agreeing to a possible meeting of the two countries’ presidents at the same moment that a peace agreement was initialled.
From Reuters ● Mar. 29, 2022
President Mohamed Mursi's government initialled an IMF deal in November but postponed ratification in December due to unrest ignited by a political row over the extent of Mursi's powers.
From Reuters ● Apr. 3, 2013
“That is correct, Monsieur. My handkerchiefs are always initialled in the Russian characters. H is N in Russian.”
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
Sometimes, I think back to initialing the bark, or nailing a plank of wood into the trunk, or breaking a branch by accident.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 19, 2023
Scott McDonell, the Dane County clerk, said the man is a poll worker, and the video shows him initialing ballots before they were handed out to voters.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 11, 2022
He was initialing ballots to be handed out to voters, a standard procedure mandated by state law, according to the county clerk.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 11, 2022
But he turned out to be a poll worker in Wisconsin conducting the standard procedure of initialing ballots for voters.
From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2022
His correspondence shows him to have been a warm-hearted friend; and he had the same devout practice of initialing his manuscripts as his brother.
From Haydn by J. Cuthbert (James Cuthbert) Hadden
This is the Epeira’s trade-mark, the flourish of an artist initialling his creation.
From The Life of the Spider by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos
While Mollie and Grace closed their eyes, Betty dug idly in the sand, and Amy produced a handkerchief and a tiny embroidery frame and began initialling a corner.
From The Outdoor Girls at Ocean View Or, The Box That Was Found in the Sand by Laura Lee Hope
Lawless had acted on an impulse in initialling her programme as he had done—a recurrence, even though slight, of the old midsummer madness.
From Grit Lawless by F.E. Mills Young
This is the Epeira's trade-mark, the flourish of an artist initialling his creation.
From The Wonders of Instinct Chapters in the Psychology of Insects by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos
He was very preoccupied, pinning up cheques and initialling some important customer's paying-in book.
From Somehow Good by William Frend De Morgan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
