initiative

English Online Dictionary. What means initiative‎? What does initiative mean?

English

Etymology

From French initiative, from Medieval Latin *initiativus (“serving to initiate”), from Late Latin initiare (“to begin, Latin initiate”), from Latin initium (“beginning”), from ineo (“enter, begin”). By surface analysis, initiate +‎ -ive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈnɪʃətɪv/
• Rhymes: -ɪʃətɪv

Adjective

initiative (not comparable)

1. (archaic) Serving to initiate.

   Synonyms: inceptive, initiatory, introductory, preliminary
2. (US) In which voter initiatives can be brought to the ballot.

   Antonym: noninitiative

   • a. 2008, John G. Matsusaka, "Direct Democracy and the Executive Branch", in, 2008, Shaun Bowler and Amihai Glazer, editors, Direct Democracy's Impact on American Political Institutions, Palgrave Macmillan, →ISBN, page 122 [4]:

     The second row shows that initiative states fill more constitutional offices by election than noninitiative states, and the difference is statistically significant after controlling for region and population.

Translations

Noun

initiative (countable and uncountable, plural initiatives)

1. A beginning; a first move.
2. A new development; a fresh approach to something; a new way of dealing with a problem.
3. The ability to act first or on one's own.
5. (politics) An issue to be voted on, brought to the ballot by a sufficient number of signatures from among the voting public.

   Hyponym: direct initiative

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• “initiative”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “initiative”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “initiative”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

French

Etymology

From Medieval Latin *initiativus (“serving to initiate”), from Late Latin initiare (“to begin, Latin initiate”), from Latin initium (“beginning”), from ineo (“enter, begin”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.ni.sja.tiv/

Noun

initiative f (plural initiatives)

1. initiative

   prendre l’initiative ― to take the initiative

   faire preuve d’initiative ― to show initiative

Derived terms

• syndicat d’initiative

Further reading

• “initiative”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.