initiate
/ɪˈnɪʃ.i.eɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.74 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
4
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To confer membership on; especially, to admit to a secret order with mysterious rites or ceremonies.
Transitive verb
noun
A new member of an organization.
noun
One who has been through a ceremony of initiation.
Example Sentences
- "How are changes of this sort to be initiated?"
- "This is a very strong move, aptly timed. It initiates the tactical conception which routs Black's hopes."
- "Indigenous people, such as agriculturists, hunters, and pastoralists initiated a system of totemism and tabooism which in essence was a natural law against killing and eating certain animals."
- "A U235 bomb would therefore need to incorporate a gun weighing ten tons. Then there was the question of initiating or triggering the bomb."
- "Prior to firing the laser, a surgeon can preilluminate the area to be cut or ablated, enlarge or reduce the area, shape, or size, and then initiate the UV laser pulses for the actual ablation."
- "With the exception of anelloviruses, bidnaviruses, spiraviruses, and some inoviruses, the replicative protein of ssDNA viruses is the so-called HUH endonuclease that cuts genomic DNA at a specific site and initiates rolling circle (or rolling hairpin) replication."
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin initiātus, perfect passive participle of initiō (“to begin, originate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from initium (“a beginning”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), from initus (“an entrance, coming in, approach”) + -ium, from ineō + -tus, from in- + eō (“to go”). Cognate with French initier.
Word Breakdown
- Root: *h₁ey-
Usage
Inflected Forms
initiates (present, singular)
initiating (participle, present)
initiated (participle, past)
initiated (past)
initiates (plural)
more initiate (comparative)
most initiate (superlative)