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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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)
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:
"Just looking at the booster real quick, it didn't look like we lit all 13 engines that we were planning for that initial land and burn," said Huot.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
Jefferson got involved again after the British burned the Capitol and with it the Library of Congress’s initial collection of books during the War of 1812.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
A molecule containing only 12 of them is extremely small compared with most full-sized proteins, yet BRP produced the strongest response in the initial cell tests.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 24, 2026
The award, which still needs to be finalised, is below the initial 1.38tn won that chairman Chey Tae-won was told to pay Roh Soh-yeong in 2024.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Skye and Madi have recovered from their initial surprise.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
According to the lawsuit, Matthew Kittle dropped off his 23-month-old son, referred to by the initials C.K., at the Bay Club’s El Segundo Clubhouse around 8:30 a.m. on March 17, 2025.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
In court, the handler was referred to as "EL Money", which is how he was saved in Lavrynovych's phone, but on the Telegram messaging app he simply used the initials "EL".
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
In 1965, when the Beatles were named members of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Paul McCartney told the press that the initials M.B.E. stood for Mr. Brian Epstein.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
"That's quite upsetting for me to hear. The last phone call I made to a ward manager, she might as well have just said that to me," she said, referring to the FOH initials.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
Wab was still bitter as she stood, brushing the grass off the back of her faded sweatpants, the initials of a university she’d never attended stamped across the seat.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
One of the invoices is initialed “SW” with “OK to pay” written by it.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 12, 2022
He testified to purchasing a car for $3,500 and initialed a blank sales agreement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
At the very top, there are two giant joists initialed by workers from 1864.
From New York Times ● May 31, 2020
Leaders of both teams initialed their copies and handed them to their Qatari hosts.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2019
Jesse had been so careful not to lose his recess time that even now he chewed his bologna sandwich with his lips tight shut and his eyes on the initialed heart.
From "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson
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
Pages initialled by "DC" set out how the single market, due to start in 1992, would help business, workers, consumers, savers, holidaymakers.
From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2019
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
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
He would inquire, at least have the girl and her aunt into his court and get a good look at them before performing his routine function of initialing the legal form.
From Clark's Field by Herrick, Robert
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 Teixeira de Mattos, Alexander
He was very preoccupied, pinning up cheques and initialling some important customer's paying-in book.
From Somehow Good by De Morgan, William Frend
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 Young, F.E. Mills
Miss Belmont stooped at the table, and when Mr. Berry entered he found her initialling the pay-sheet.
From Despair's Last Journey by Murray, David Christie
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 Biese, Alfred
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.
