Initiation

How to spell initiation

10 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce initiation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does initiation mean?

1. nounThe act of beginning something, or the formal process of admitting someone into a group, role, or activity.

Initiation in a sentence

• The initiation of the new recruits took place on their first morning.

• Her initiation into the management team involved weeks of training.

Where does initiation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb initiare, meaning 'to begin' or 'to admit into a secret rite', which was built on the noun initium, meaning 'a beginning' or 'an entrance'. That noun in turn came from inire, literally 'to go in', a compound of the prefix in- 'into' and the verb ire 'to go', so at its heart the word captures the idea of stepping inside something for the first time. The Latin abstract noun initiatio described the act of beginning or of being admitted into mysteries, especially the secret religious rites of the ancient world. English took the word in around the early 1600s, keeping both the everyday sense of a beginning and the ceremonial sense of formally bringing someone into a group. The spelling preserves that buried Latin verb ire in the middle, which is why the tricky '-tiation' cluster sounds like 'sh-ee-ay-shun' yet keeps the letter t.

How the word is built

• in- (into)
• it- (from Latin ire, to go)
• -iat- (verb-forming)
• -ion (noun of action)