Initial

How to spell initial

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce initial

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does initial mean?

1. adjectiveExisting or occurring at the beginning; first.
2. nounThe first letter of a person's name, especially used as an abbreviation.
3. verbTo mark or sign something with the first letters of one's name.

Initial in a sentence

• adjective

  The initial estimate turned out to be far too low.

• noun

  He signed the form with his middle initial between his names.

• verb

  Please initial each page of the contract before you sign.

• adjective

  Her initial reaction to the offer was cautious.

• noun

  The towel was embroidered with a single gold initial.

• verb

  The manager asked her to initial the correction in the margin.

Where does initial come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin initialis, meaning 'standing at the beginning', which was formed from initium, the Latin noun for 'a beginning' or 'an entrance'. That noun in turn came from the verb inire, 'to go into' or 'to enter', a compound of in- 'into' and ire 'to go'. English adopted the word in the sixteenth century, first as an adjective describing whatever comes first, and the noun sense for the opening letter of a name followed soon after. The same ire 'to go' root quietly survives in relatives such as 'transit', 'exit', and 'ambitious'. The spelling trap is the single 't' followed by the soft '-tial' that sounds like 'shul', tempting writers to double letters or write '-cial' instead.

How the word is built

• in- (into)
• it (from Latin ire 'to go')
• -ial (adjective/noun suffix)