Initial Definition
ĭ-nĭshəl
initialed, initialing, initialled, initialling, initials
adjective
Having to do with, indicating, or occurring at the beginning.
The initial stage of a disease, the initial letter of a word.
Webster's New World
Designating the first letter or letters of a word.
American Heritage
Synonyms:
noun
The first letter of a proper name.
American Heritage
A primordial cell that determines the basic pattern of derived tissues; specif., a meristematic cell.
Webster's New World
A capital, or uppercase, letter.
Webster's New World
The first letter of each word of a person's full name considered as a unit.
Stationery monogrammed with her initials.
American Heritage
A large, often highly decorated letter set at the beginning of a chapter, verse, or paragraph.
American Heritage
Synonyms:
verb
To mark or sign with an initial or initials.
Webster's New World
Origin of Initial
-
From French, from Latin initialis (“of the beginning, incipient, initial”), from initium (“a going in, entrance, beginning”), from inire (“to go in, enter upon, begin”), from in (“in”) + ire (“to go”).
From Wiktionary
-
Latin initiālis from initium beginning ei- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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