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)
-
initialing,
present participle
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initialling
present participle (especially British)
adjective
noun
-
the first letter of a word, esp a person's name
-
printing a large sometimes highly decorated letter set at the beginning of a chapter or work
-
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
-
am initiallingprogressive
-
are initialingprogressive
-
are initiallingprogressive
-
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
-
initialedsimple
-
initialledsimple
-
had initialedperfect
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had initialledperfect
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was initialingprogressive
-
was initiallingprogressive
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were initialingprogressive
-
were initiallingprogressive
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had been initialingperfect progressive
-
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:
Also lifting confidence was Anthropic's filing showing it planned to raise up to $64 billion in its upcoming initial public offering, valuing it at as much as $1.4 trillion.
From Barron's ● Nov. 11, 2026
"Already with our next launch, for which we are currently finalising the launch vehicle, we will be taking initial measurements to assess the re-entry of the rocket's first stage," he said.
From Barron's ● Nov. 10, 2026
Anthropic will seek a valuation of around $1.33 trillion in its initial public offering, forging ahead with its stock-market debut despite recent market volatility tied to artificial-intelligence investments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026
In what could be viewed as a rough start to its initial public offering rollout, Claude chatbot maker Anthropic reportedly sent details of its plans to bankers before having to yank them back.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 10, 2026
During that initial interview, the farmer had seemed to be suffering from dementia: he had stared at the agent blankly.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
TikTok and YouTube were also named as defendants in the case, but both had already reached settlements with the plaintiffs, known by their initials SJ and KDB, their lawyers said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
Doncic loves his two daughters — Gabriela, 2, and Olivia, 10 months — and wears their initials on his shoes during games.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
The room still features a personalized touch: an island bearing Foreman’s initials, “G.F.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 21, 2026
Messages on its walls included: "RIP The Boys", "Never Be Forgotten RIP The Lads", and the initials of those in the car with "Rest easy boys".
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
I preferred Walter Myers for the most logical reason: If you wrote out the initials WM and turned them upside down, they were still WM.
From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers
The wallet, initialed G.H., contained a New York Times article describing plans for the offensive in which he ultimately died.
From Seattle Times ● May 26, 2024
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 next day, in Paris, Kissinger and Le Duc Tho initialed the deal to end the Vietnam War.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
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
Agreements would also be initialled with Georgia and Moldova.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2013
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
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
He was initialing ballots to be handed out to voters, a standard procedure mandated by state law, said Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 8, 2022
I shall be glad to have it for initialing in not more than five minutes from now.”
From Mystery at Geneva An Improbable Tale of Singular Happenings by Dame Rose Macaulay
The earlier taste still ruled in initialling and border decorations; but little flowers were added by degrees to the thorn-leaf pattern, and birds, sometimes angels, introduced.
From The Development of the Feeling for Nature in the Middle Ages and Modern Times by Alfred Biese
He was very preoccupied, pinning up cheques and initialling some important customer's paying-in book.
From Somehow Good by William Frend De Morgan
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
