initiation
Americannoun
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formal admission or acceptance into an organization or club, adult status in one's community or society, etc.
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the ceremonies or rites of admission.
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the act of initiating.
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the fact of being initiated.
noun
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the act of initiating or the condition of being initiated
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the often secret ceremony initiating new members into an organization
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of initiation
First recorded in 1575–85, initiation is from the Latin word initiātiōn- (stem of initiātiō ). See initiate, -ion
Explanation
The initiation of something is the beginning. It's what sets events in motion, gets the party underway, or kicks off a new program. An initiation can also be an introduction into something, formally or informally. You might undergo an initiation ceremony when you join the Girl Scouts for the first time, or have a rude initiation into the world of traffic law when you get your first speeding ticket. But beware of the initiation rituals for college frats — you could find yourself swallowing a live goldfish or streaking across campus in your tighty-whiteys.
Vocabulary lists containing initiation
Divergent
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Long Way Down
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Purple Hibiscus
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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:
The recent deal comes after Yum! announced “the initiation of a formal review of strategic options” for Pizza Hut back in Nov. 2025.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
It responded after Netanyahu and his foreign minister issued a statement saying they had ordered the "initiation of a defamation lawsuit".
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
The IRS criminal investigation unit’s staff decreased by 13% last year, diverting agents and reducing the initiation of routine criminal tax cases.
From Barron's ● Apr. 9, 2026
A membership at the Clayton runs from $1,900 a year for those under 30 to $3,200 for anyone older, plus an initiation fee of about $2,000.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026
“Everything about you checked out: test results, initiation simulations, everything. But here you are nonetheless.”
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
The initiations from JPMorgan, Bank of America, KeyBanc Capital Markets, and Jefferies frame Forgent as a play on one of the tightest bottlenecks in the AI buildout: electrical distribution equipment.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
The practices of the cult are obscure and difficult to reconstruct, but it seems that initiations took place in a cave.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
This also matches my interpretation of a lot of Africanist practices, where, during initiations, you are on your own individual search.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2022
"We have big parties for the initiations where we dance and sing, and feel good."
From BBC ● Nov. 19, 2016
They remember what it felt like when they were young, and they remember their own initiations.
From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola
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.
