Initiative

How to spell initiative

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce initiative

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does initiative mean?

1. nounThe ability to assess a situation and act independently without being prompted.
2. nounA fresh plan or organised effort intended to address a particular issue.
3. nounThe power or opportunity to act first and set events in motion.

Initiative in a sentence

• The manager praised her initiative when she solved the problem alone.

• The council launched a new recycling initiative across the city.

• She took the initiative and emailed the client before anyone else did.

• Employees who show initiative tend to advance more quickly.

• The company funded a wellbeing initiative for its staff.

• Losing the initiative in the negotiation cost them the better deal.

Where does initiative come from?

Language of origin: French

This word traces back to the Latin verb inire, meaning 'to go in' or 'to begin', which was formed from in- ('into') and ire ('to go'). From the related noun initium, meaning 'a beginning' or 'an entrance', Latin built initiare, 'to begin' or 'to admit by a rite', the same root that gives us 'initial' and 'initiate'. The form 'initiative' came into English in the late 1700s by way of French initiative, where it described the right or power to take the first step in some action. Over time it broadened from that formal political sense to the everyday meaning of personal drive: the readiness to act and decide for yourself without waiting to be told. The spelling trap lives in that quiet middle, the '-tia-' that is pronounced 'sh', and the unstressed vowels that tempt writers to drop or double the wrong letter.

How the word is built

• in- (into, toward)
• it (from Latin ire: to go)
• -ive (adjective/noun suffix forming 'tending to')