Etymologically
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initium

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɪˈnɪ.ti.ũː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [iˈnit.t͡si.um][1]

Forms

initium n (genitive initiī or initī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ineō (“to go in, enter upon”) + -ium.[2][1][3] Ineō is from in- and eō “to go”, from Proto-Italic *ei- (“to go”), Proto-Indo-European *h₁ei- (“to go”).[1][4] Lewis & Short give its basic sense as “a going in, entrance”.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Ennius (204–169 BC).[6] Terence has “the beginning of the story begins for me”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant a beginning or start, of a monarch his accession, of a creature its birth, and a starting point, as Caesar's initium capere ab, “to begin from”.[2][7] In the plural it meant the first phase of something, and it meant the origin or occasion, as Terence's ring that set off the discoveries, and a person's origins, as Velleius' man of the most obscure birth.[2]

In philosophy the initia were the first principles or elements of the world, and in religion the initiatory rites or mysteries, as those of Samothrace.[2][1] In medieval Latin it also meant a base or foundation.[8] English initial comes from its derivative initiālis.[9]

Timeline

  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.[6]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of the beginning of a story.[2][6]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar has initium capere ab.[7][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A beginning, start; accession; birth.[2][1]
  2. A starting point.[2]
  3. (plural) The first stage.[2]
  4. An origin, occasion; a person's origins.[2][1]
  5. (plural) Elements, first principles.[2]
  6. (plural) Initiatory rites, mysteries.[2][1]
  7. A going in, entrance.[5][1]

Word family

  • initiālis
  • initiō
  • ineo
  • English initial
  • English initiate

Usage notes

Döderlein says initium is the beginning in an abstract sense, the mere point where a thing begins, as opposed to exitus.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper