initiate

Borrowed from Latin initiātus, perfect passive participle of initiō (“begin, originate”), from initium (“a beginning”), from ineō (“go in, enter upon, begin”), from in + eō (“go”).

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈnɪʃɪeɪt/
• Hyphenation: ini‧ti‧ate

initiate (comparative more initiate, superlative most initiate)

1. (obsolete) Unpractised; untried; new.
   • Shakespeare

     the initiate fear that wants hard use

2. (obsolete) Begun; commenced; introduced to, or instructed in, the rudiments; newly admitted.
   • Young

     To rise in science as in bliss, / Initiate in the secrets of the skies.

initiate (plural initiates)

1. A new member of an organization.
2. One who has been through a ceremony of initiation.

initiate (third-person singular simple present initiates, present participle initiating, simple past and past participle initiated)

1. (transitive) To begin; to start.
   • I. Taylor

     How are changes of this sort to be initiated?

2. To instruct in the rudiments or principles; to introduce.
   • Dr. H. More

     Providence would only initiate mankind into the useful knowledge of her treasures, leaving the rest to employ our industry.

   • John Locke

     To initiate his pupil into any part of learning, an ordinary skill in the governor is enough.

3. To confer membership on; especially, to admit to a secret order with mysterious rites or ceremonies.
   • Bishop Warburton

     The Athenians believed that he who was initiated and instructed in the mysteries would obtain celestial honour after death.

   • Spectator

     He was initiated into half a dozen clubs before he was one and twenty.

4. (intransitive) To do the first act; to perform the first rite; to take the initiative.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Alexander Pope to this entry?)

• (to begin): end, conclude, complete, finish

• initiate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• initiate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• initiate at OneLook Dictionary Search

initiāte

1. vocative masculine singular of initiātus