initial
Chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning, cause or origin.
Example
“Our initial admiration for their efficiency gave way to disgust about their methods.”
Other meanings
Spatially first, placed at the beginning, in the first position; especially said of the first letter of a word.
“The initial letter of names is usually printed with a capital letter.”
Synonyms
- opening
Antonyms
- final
Related words
- coinitial
- noninitial
- preinitial
- wordinitial
- initially
- initialness
- initial condition
- peninitial
- head-initial
- initial caps
- initial coin offering
- initial mass function
Word history
From Middle French "initial".
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “initial” on Wiktionary, by its contributors, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.