initial
[ih-nish-uh l]
- of, relating to, or occurring at the beginning; first: the initial step in a process.
- Phonetics. occurring at the beginning of a word or syllable, as the (k) sound of kite, chasm, or quay.
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- an initial letter, as of a word.
- the first letter of a proper name.
- 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.
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- to mark or sign with an initial or the initials of one's name, especially as a token of preliminary or informal approval.
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Origin of initial
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for initials
Contemporary Examples
I finish a decent game, type my initials, and decide to call it quits.
Another time he altered the program so that the high score table would refuse to display the initials of one of his colleagues.
The woman is identified only by the initials J.W. in court papers from a subsequent federal civil-rights lawsuit.
On the Pont des Arts we buy a padlock engraved with our initials, T and E.
The other man who filed a suit on Nov. 27 has chosen to remain unidentified and filed his claim using only his initials.
Historical Examples
The initials of those words are within here now, and were within here then.
Little DorritCharles Dickens
At length, it was suggested that the letters were not initials, but the complete word, DIG.
A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens
The initials to that letter are yours, and all the men I meet tell me that you have written it.
The ChristianHall Caine
On the end of the suitcase are the initials ‘C. M.’ and ‘Chicago.’
Philo Gubb Correspondence-School DetectiveEllis Parker Butler
Two of these are signed with his initials, but the one here given has no signature.
Whittier-landSamuel T. Pickard
initial
- of, at, or concerning the beginning
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- 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
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- (tr) to sign with one's initials, esp to indicate approval; endorse
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin initiālis of the beginning, from initium beginning, literally: an entering upon, from inīre to go in, from in- ² + īre to go
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
Word Origin and History for initials
initial
v.
"to mark or sign with initials," 1864, American English, from initial (n.). Related: Initialed; initialing.
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initial
n.
"initial letter of a name or surname," 1620s, from initial (adj.) in a specialized sense "standing at the beginning of a word, sentence, etc."
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initial
adj.
1520s, "of or pertaining to a beginning," from Middle French initial or directly from Latin initialis "initial, incipient," from initium "a beginning, an entrance," from past participle stem of inire "to go into, enter upon, begin," from in- "into, in" (see in- (2)) + ire "to go" (see ion).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper