# initiate
## English
### Pronunciation

* (verb) IPA: /ɪˈnɪʃ.i.eɪt/, /ɪˈnɪʃ.ɪ.eɪt/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (noun, adjective) IPA: /ɪˈnɪʃ.i.ət/, /ɪˈnɪʃ.ɪ.ət/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Hyphenation: ini‧ti‧ate

### Etymology 1

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.

#### Verb

initiate (third-person singular simple present initiates, present participle initiating, simple past and past participle initiated)
* (transitive) To begin; to start.
** 1860, Isaac Taylor, “(please specify the page)”, in Ultimate Civilization and Other Essays, London: Bell and Daldy […], →OCLC:How are changes of this sort to be initiated?
** 1978, David Dhlalangami Maforo, Black-white Relations in Kenya Game Policy, page 5: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.
** 2011, Jim Baggott, The First War of Physics, Pegasus Books, →ISBN:A U235 bomb would therefore need to incorporate a gun weighing ten tons. Then there was the question of initiating or triggering the bomb.
** 2014, David L. Elliott, Ultraviolet Laser Technology and Applications, page 320: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.
** 2021 February 24, Encyclopedia of Virology, Academic Press, →ISBN, page 43: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.
* (transitive) To instruct in the rudiments or principles; to introduce.
** 1653, Henry More, An Antidote against Atheisme, or An Appeal to the Natural Faculties of the Minde of Man, whether There Be Not a God, London: […] Roger Daniel, […], →OCLC:Divine Providence would only initiate and enter mankind into the useful knowledge of her, leaving the rest to employ our industry.
** 1693, [John Locke], “§94”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], →OCLC:to initiate his pupil in any part of learning
* (transitive) To confer membership on; especially, to admit to a secret order with mysterious rites or ceremonies.
** 1738–1741, William Warburton, The Divine Legation of Moses […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II.1, or II.2), London: […] Fletcher Gyles, […], →OCLC:The Athenians believed that he who was initiated and instructed in the mysteries would obtain celestial honour after death.
** 1714 August 15 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “WEDNESDAY, August 4, 1714”, in The Spectator, number 576; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume VI, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:He was initiated into half a dozen clubs before he was one and twenty.The spelling has been modernized.
* (intransitive) To do the first act; to perform the first rite; to take the initiative.
** 1725–1726, Homer, “Book 3”, in [William Broome, Elijah Fenton, Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:The king himself initiates to the power; Scatters with quivering hand the sacred flour, And the stream sprinkles.

##### Synonyms

* (to begin): commence, institute

##### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “to begin”): stop, end, cease
*   * (to end temporarily) pause, halt, suspend
*   * (to end incompletely) discontinue
*   * (to end completely) finish, conclude, complete

##### Derived terms

* self-initiate

##### Related terms

* initiable
* initial
* initialism
* initialize
* initials
* initiation
* initiative
* initiator

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

##### See also

* resume (to begin where one left off)

### Etymology 2

From a substantivization of the adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more. Cognate with French initié (“an initiate, neophyte”).

#### Noun

initiate (plural initiates)
* A new member of an organization.
* One who has been through a ceremony of initiation.
* One who is oriented in and familiar with a topic or subject; especially, one who is an expert in it.
    Antonyms: noninitiate, novice
    Coordinate terms: expert, nonexpert; layperson, amateur, dilettante; insider, old hand; journeyman, master; learner, student, teacher

##### Translations
### Etymology 3

Borrowed from Latin initiātus, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.

#### Adjective

initiate (comparative more initiate, superlative most initiate)
* (obsolete) Unpracticed, untried, new.
** c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:the initiate fear that wants hard use
* (obsolete) Begun, commenced, introduced to or in the rudiments (of), newly admitted.
** 1744, [Edward Young], “Night the Sixth. The Infidel Reclaim’d. In Two Parts. Containing, the Nature, Proof, and Importance of Immortality. Part the First. […]”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley […], →OCLC, page 6:To rise in science as in bliss, / Initiate in the secrets of the skies.

### Further reading

* “initiate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “initiate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
* “initiate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

## Latin
### Participle

initiāte
* vocative masculine singular of initiātus