initial
Noun · Verb · AdjectiveUS[in-ish-uhl]/ˌɪˈnɪʃəl/3 syllables
Open English WordNet
Adjective (1)
Noun (1)initials
- the first letter of a word (especially a person's name)“he refused to put the initials FRS after his name”Type of letter, letter of the alphabet
Word of the day · Nov 4About this word
insipidadjective
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Translations
Adjective chronologically first
- Spanish
- inicial
- French
- initial
- German
- anfänglich
- Italian
- iniziale
- Portuguese
- inicial
- Russian
- нача́льный načálʹnyj
- Arabic
- أَوَّلِيّ ʔawwaliyy
- Chinese
- 初始 chūshǐ
- Dutch
- aanvankelijk
- Polish
- początkowy
Noun initials of a name
- French
- initiale
- German
- Initiale
- Italian
- iniziale
- Portuguese
- inicial
- Russian
- инициа́л iniciál
- Chinese
- 首字母 shǒuzìmǔ
- Japanese
- イニシャル inisharu
- Dutch
- beginletter
- Polish
- inicjał
- Greek
- μονογραφή monografí
5 more languages
- Catalan
- inicial
- Czech
- iniciála
- Esperanto
- inicialo
- Finnish
- alkukirjain
- Norwegian
- initial
The main translation for each meaning, from the langtolang.com multilingual dictionary. Each word links to its full entry there.
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
In·i′tial adjective
Origin: L. initialis, from initium a going in, entrance, beginning, fr. inire to go into, to enter, begin; pref. in- in + ire to go: cf. F. initial. See Issue, and cf. Commence.
1. Of or pertaining to the beginning; marking the commencement; incipient; commencing; as, the initial symptoms of a disease.
2. Placed at the beginning; standing at the head, as of a list or series; as, the initial letters of a name.
In·i′tial noun
The first letter of a word or a name.
In·i′tial transitive verb [past tense & past participle Initialed; present participle & verbal noun Initialing.]
To put an initial to; to mark with an initial of initials. rare
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54