Etymology Explorer › German

Where does “Initiative” come from?

Initiative (German) comes from French initiative, from Medieval Latin initiativus, from Late Latin initiare, from Latin initiāre, from Latin initium, from Latin inire, from Latin īre, from Proto-Italic eō — to go.

Initiative (German): initiative

Definitions

  1. initiative

Ancestry of “Initiative”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchinitiativeinitiative
2Medieval Latininitiativusserving to initiate
3Late Latininitiareto begin
4Latininitiāre—
5Latininitiumbeginning, start; rites, mysteries
6Latininirepresent active infinitive of ineō; to go in,...
7Latinīre—
8Proto-ItaliceōI go
9Proto-Italicejō—
10Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁éytito go, to be going
11Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁ey-to go

Words derived from “Initiative”

  • eigeninitiativ
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁ey- →