initiative

Forms

Plural: initiatives

Definitions

Adjective
A word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun.

1.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.

Noun
A word that identifies a person, place, thing, or idea.

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.
4.An issue to be voted on, brought to the ballot by a sufficient number of signatures from among the voting public.

Frequency

Overall

Uncommon· #2281

By learning goal

Everyday conversation: Rare
General reading & writing: Uncommon
Academic: Rare
Literature: Rare

Related words

Synonyms

first

Word family

initiate

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.

AdjectiveAdjective×A word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun.

NounNoun×A word that identifies a person, place, thing, or idea.