Initial
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The first letter of a word or a name, especially of a person's full name (their initials).
"The point of interest about this particular specimen was that it must have remained intact for at least a quarter of a century, as it had embossed in the frosted glass the initials of the old Great North of Scotland Railway in the form of a scroll, the sort of relic of pre-grouping days that can still be found here and there if one is observant."
- 2 the first letter of a word (especially a person's name) wordnet
- 3 A distinguished initial letter of a chapter or section of a document.
- 4 onset, part of a syllable that precedes the syllable nucleus in phonetics and phonology.
- 1 To sign one's initial(s), as an abbreviated signature. transitive
"Please initial each page and sign the contract in full at the bottom."
- 2 mark with one's initials wordnet
- 1 Chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning, cause or origin. not-comparable
"Our initial admiration for their efficiency gave way to disgust about their methods."
- 2 Spatially first, placed at the beginning, in the first position; especially said of the first letter of a word. not-comparable
"The initial letter of names is usually printed with a capital letter."
- 1 occurring at the beginning wordnet
Example
More examples"The initial symptoms of the disease are fever and sore throat."
Etymology
From Middle French initial or directly from its Latin etymon initiālis (“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”).
Related phrases
More for "initial"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.