Where does “initiative” come from?
Initiative comes from French initiative, from Latin initiativus (adjective form of initiare, meaning to begin), derived from initium (a beginning), formed with the suffix -ium from the preposition in.
initiative (English): Serving to initiate; inceptive; initiatory;...
Definitions
- Serving to initiate; inceptive; initiatory;...
Ancestry of “initiative”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | initiative | initiative |
| 2 | Medieval Latin | initiativus | serving to initiate |
| 3 | Late Latin | initiare | to begin |
| 4 | Latin | initiāre | — |
| 5 | Latin | initium | beginning, start; rites, mysteries |
| 6 | Latin | inire | present active infinitive of ineō; to go in,... |
| 7 | Latin | īre | — |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | eō | I go |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | ejō | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁éyti | to go, to be going |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁ey- | to go |