Link Centre Dictionary

initiate

ini·tiate

UK/ɪˈnɪʃ.i.ət/ US/ɪˈnɪʃ.ɪ.ət/ fairly common
verb (5) noun (3)

verb

1.

bring into being

  • “He initiated a new program”
  • “Start a foundation”
Synonyms
2.

take the lead or initiative in; participate in the development of

  • “This South African surgeon pioneered heart transplants”
Synonyms
3.

accept young people into society, usually with some rite

  • “African men are initiated when they reach puberty”
Synonyms
4.

bring up a topic for discussion

Synonyms
5.

prepare the way for

  • “Hitler”
Synonyms

noun

1.
2.

someone who has been admitted to membership in a scholarly field

Synonyms
3.

people who have been introduced to the mysteries of some field or activity

  • “it is very familiar to the initiate”
Synonyms
Antonyms

Origin

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.

Related words

Word family

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See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.