# inaugurate
## English
### Etymology 1

Either:
* borrowed from French inaugurer (“to inaugurate”), from Latin inaugurō (“to take omens from the flight of birds, to divine, practise augury; to approve, consecrate, or inaugurate on the basis of omens; to install”) with common assimilation of French -er with English -ate (verb-forming suffix)
* or a Learned borrowing from Latin inaugurātus, perfect passive participle of inaugurō, see etymology at -ate;
Further from in- (“against; into; on, upon; to, towards”) +‎ augurō (“to act as an augur, interpret omens, augur; to foretell, predict; to conjecture, guess”), from augur (“soothsayer, augur”) +‎ -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix) (further etymology uncertain; see the entry).

#### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ɪˈnɔːɡjʊ.ɹeɪt/ (enPR: ĭ-nôˈ-gū-rāt)
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ɪˈnɔ.ɡjəˌɹeɪt/, /ɪˈnɔ.ɡəˌɹeɪt/ (enPR: -nôˈ-gyə-rātˌ, -gə-)
* (cot–caught merger) IPA: /ɪˈnɑ.ɡjəˌɹeɪt/, /ɪˈnɑ.ɡəˌɹeɪt/ (enPR: -nɑˈ-gyə-, -gə-)
* Hyphenation: in‧au‧gu‧rate

#### Verb

inaugurate (third-person singular simple present inaugurates, present participle inaugurating, simple past and past participle inaugurated) (transitive)
* To induct (someone) into a dignity or office with a formal ceremony.
    Synonym: (obsolete) inaugur
** 1600, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book XXVII]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 655:[…] Cn[aeus] Cornelius Dolabella vvas inaugurat or inſtalled king of the ſacrifices, in ſteed of Marcus Martius, vvho died tvvo yeares before.
** 1606, William Warner, “The Fourteenth Booke. Chapter LXXXII.”, in A Continuance of Albions England: […], London: […] Felix Kyngston [and Richard Bradock?] for George Potter, […], →OCLC, page 344:More to theyr proper Elements inaugurated none, / Than ſhee to hers by-paſſed, he to his poſſeſſed Throne.
** 1612, Michael Drayton, “The Seuenteenth Song”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, […], London: […] [Humphrey Lownes] for M[athew] Lownes; I[ohn] Browne; I[ohn] Helme; I[ohn] Busbie, →OCLC, page 261:Our Long-ſhanks [Edward I of England], Scotlands ſcourge: vvho to the Orcads raught / His Scepter, and vvith him from vvilde Albania brought / The reliques of her Crovvne (by him firſt placed here) / The ſeat on vvhich her Kings inaugurated vvere.
** 1825 August, Thomas Babington Macaulay, “[John] Milton. […]”, in Critical and Historical Essays, Contributed to the Edinburgh Review. […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: […] Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, […], published 1843, →OCLC, pages 48–49:England, at the time of which we are treating, abounded with fickle and selfish politicians, who transferred their support to every government as it rose, who kissed the hand of the King [Charles I of England] in 1640, and spat in his face in 1649, who shouted with equal glee when [Oliver] Cromwell was inaugurated in Westminster Hall, and when he was dug up to be hanged at Tyburn, […]
* To dedicate (something, as a building or a monument) for public access or use with a formal ceremony.
** 2008 February 21, “Solar energy: The power of concentration: A new type of power plant harnesses the sun—and taxpayers”, in The Economist‎, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-05-03:On February 22nd, at an event featuring film stars, astronauts and technology gurus, Acciona, a Spanish conglomerate, is due to inaugurate a new power plant a few miles from Las Vegas.
* To initiate or usher in (something, as a (significant) course of action, development, organization, or period of time) with a formal ceremony or in a ceremonious manner; also (loosely), to begin or commence (something); to start.
    Synonym: handsel
** 1850, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “A Sabbath Morning at Sea”, in Poems. […], new edition, volume II, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, stanza V, page 326:The sun!—he came up to be viewed; / And sky and sea made mighty room / To inaugurate the vision!
** 1865, David Livingstone, Charles Livingstone, chapter XXI, in Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries; and of the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa. 1858–1864, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 428:Had Mr. Sunley performed the same experiment on the mainland, where people would have flocked to him for the wages he now gives, he would certainly have inaugurated a new era on the East Coast of Africa.
* (archaic, rare) To cause (something) to be auspicious or good-omened; also, to declare or make (something) holy; to consecrate, to sanctify.
    (cause to be auspicious): Synonym: auspicate
    (declare or make holy): Synonyms: see Thesaurus:consecrate
    (declare or make holy): Antonyms: see Thesaurus:desecrate
** a. 1639 (date written), Henry Wotton, “A View of the Life and Death of Geo[rge] Villiers, Duke of Buckingham”, in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. Or, A Collection of Lives, Letters, Poems; […], London: […] Thomas Maxey, for R[ichard] Marriot, G[abriel] Bedel, and T[imothy] Garthwait, published 1651, →OCLC, page 79:About Nevvyeers-tide after his return from thence (for thoſe beginnings of years vvere very propitious unto him, as if Kings did chuſe remarkable dayes to inaugurate their favours, that they may appeare acts aſvvell of the Times, as of the VVill) he vvas Created Marqueſs of Buckingham, and made Lord Admirall of England, […]
** 1897 February 2, P[eter] le Page Renouf, “Book of the Dead. [Chapter CXXX. A Book whereby the Soul is Made to Live for ever, on the Day of Entering into the Bark of Rā, and to Pass the Sheniu of the Tuat. Made on the Birthday of Osiris.]”, in Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, volume XIX, part 2, London: […] Society [of Biblical Archaeology], […], →OCLC, page 67:The Osiris N inaugurateth the paths of Rā and prayeth that he may drive off the Lock which cometh out of the flame against thy Bark out of the great Stream.

##### Conjugation

| infinitive | (to) inaugurate | (to) inaugurate |
| | present tense | past tense |
| 1st-person singular | inaugurate | inaugurated |
| 2nd-person singular | inaugurate, inauguratest$^†$ | inaugurated, inauguratedst$^†$ |
| 3rd-person singular | inaugurates, inaugurateth$^†$ | inaugurated |
| plural | inaugurate | inaugurated |
| subjunctive | inaugurate | inaugurated |
| imperative | inaugurate | — |
| participles | inaugurating | inaugurated |
$^†$Archaic or obsolete.

##### Derived terms

* inaugurative
* inauguratory
* reinaugurate
* uninaugurated

##### Related terms

* augur
* augural
* augurate
* inaugur (obsolete)
* inaugural
* inauguration
* inaugurator

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin inaugurātus (“having been taken as an omen, divined; having been approved, consecrated, or inaugurated on the basis of omens; installed, having been installed”) (the perfect passive participle of inaugurō (verb): see etymology 1). See -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

#### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ɪˈnɔːɡjʊ.ɹət/ (enPR: ĭ-nôˈ-gū-rət)
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American) IPA: /ɪˈnɔ.ɡjə.ɹet/, /ɪˈnɔ.ɡə.ɹet/ (enPR: -nôˈ-gyə-ɹet, -gə-)
* (cot–caught merger) IPA: /ɪˈnɑ.ɡjə.ɹet/, /ɪˈnɑ.ɡə.ɹet/ (enPR: -nɑˈ-gyə-, -gə-)
* Hyphenation: in‧au‧gu‧rate

#### Adjective

inaugurate (not comparable)
* (obsolete) Inducted into a dignity or office with a formal ceremony or in a ceremonious manner; inaugurated.
** 1644, Henry Hammond, “Sermon IX. Being an Easter Sermon at St. Mary’s in Oxford, a.d. 1644. The Blessing Influence of Christ’s Resurrection.”, in Thirty-one Sermons Preached on Several Occasions (Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology; 21), part I, Oxford, Oxfordshire: John Henry Parker, published 1849, →OCLC, page 188:[T]he raising up of Jesus, signifies the new state, to which Christ was inaugurate at His resurrection, and contains under it all the severals of ascension, of sitting at the right hand of power, of the mission of the Holy Ghost, and His powerful intercession for us in heaven ever since, and to the end of the world; […]

### References

* ↑ Compare “inaugurate, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2024; “inaugurate, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* ↑ “inaugurate, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, July 2023.

### Further reading

* inauguration on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* “inaugurate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
* “inaugurate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* “inaugurate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

## Italian
### Verb

inaugurate
* inflection of inaugurare:
** second-person plural present indicative
** second-person plural imperative
* feminine plural of inaugurato, past participle of inaugurare

## Latin
### Participle

inaugurāte
* vocative masculine singular of inaugurātus

## Spanish
### Verb

inaugurate
* second-person singular voseo imperative of inaugurar combined with te