initiative

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Serving to initiate.

   As for Apollos he was skillfull in the Scriptures, and mightily confuted the Iewes by them, he had more then this initiative wisedome, and knew better the difference betweene the baptisme of Christ, and of Iohn, then it seemeth this Iesuite doth.

2. 2
   adj

   In which voter initiatives can be brought to the ballot.

   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.

3. 3
   noun

   A beginning; a first move.

   Not only are all religions welcome at the Voice Community Kitchen, but experts also say such initiatives could be key to improving ethnoreligious engagement and lead to better conflict mediation in the future.

4. 4
   adj

   serving to set in motion

5. 5
   noun

   the first of a series of actions

6. 6
   noun

   readiness to embark on bold new ventures

7. 7
   noun

   A new development; a fresh approach to something; a new way of dealing with a problem.

8. 8
   noun

   The ability to act first or on one's own.

Etymology

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