initiate
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to make something start, especially an official process or a plan.
v.to set a process or action in motion. Transitive; often used in formal or professional contexts regarding procedures.
Simple“The government decided to initiate a new program to help small businesses.”
In context“The legal team chose to initiate formal proceedings after the mediation phase failed to produce a satisfactory settlement for the claimant.”
UsageOften takes a direct object representing a formal procedure or project.
- 02 C1 Advanced
v.to introduce someone to a new activity or to make them a member of a secret group.
v.to admit someone into a membership, often through a specific ritual or by providing specialized knowledge.
Simple“They will initiate the new members into the club during a ceremony tonight.”
In context“The secret society would only initiate those who had proven their loyalty through a series of rigorous intellectual challenges.”
UsageCommonly used with the preposition 'into'.
- 03 C1 Advanced
n.a person who has recently joined a group or has just learned secret information.
n.a person who has been recently initiated into an organization or a body of knowledge.
Simple“The initiates were nervous as they waited for the ceremony to begin.”
In context“As a recent initiate to the research circle, she spent most of the first meeting listening to the senior fellows debate policy.”
Usage initiate change · initiate process · initiate programme
“Another change coming to Bumble will extend the time-limit users have to initiate a conversation after matching.”
“But I have seen that they still often expect their professors to respond quickly when they initiate an email exchange.”
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.
From a substantivization of the adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more. Cognate with French initié (“an initiate, neophyte”).
Borrowed from Latin initiātus, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.