Initials

How to spell initials

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce initials

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does initials mean?

1. nounThe first letters of a person's names, often used as a short signature or monogram.
2. verbMarks or signs something with the first letters of one's name, as a brief form of approval.

Initials in a sentence

• noun

  She embroidered her initials on the corner of the handkerchief.

• verb

  The manager initials every page of the contract before filing it.

• noun

  The registration form asks for your initials in the small box.

• verb

  Each accountant initials the report to confirm the figures.

Where does initials come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin initialis, meaning 'of the beginning', which was formed from initium, 'a beginning' or 'an entrance'. That noun in turn came from the verb inire, 'to go in', built from in- ('into') and ire ('to go'), so at its root an 'initial' is literally the part where you go in, that is, the very start. English borrowed the adjective in the 1500s to describe anything occurring at the outset, and by the 1600s 'initial' was being used as a noun for the opening letter of a name. The familiar modern plural, 'initials', meaning the set of first letters of someone's names, settled into ordinary use in the 1800s. The same ire ('to go') root quietly survives in everyday words such as 'exit' and 'transit', and remembering that 'initial' shares the single t and the -ial ending of 'initial' itself helps fix the spelling.

How the word is built

• in- (into)
• it (go, from Latin ire)
• -ial (adjective/noun suffix)
• -s (plural)