initium Latin · revision 3967

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Ennius|origins=ine-pro *h₁ei-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ɪˈnɪ.ti.ũː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [iˈnit.t͡si.um]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''initium''' ''n'' (genitive initiī or initī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|ineō|-ium|t1=to go in, enter upon]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) ''Ineō'' is from [[in-]] and [[eo|alt=eō]] “to go”, from [[itc-pro|*ei-|t=to go]], [[ine-pro|*h₁ei-|t=to go]].^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008) Lewis & Short give its basic sense as “a going in, entrance”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler's first source is Ennius (204–169 BC).^(Köbler 2010) Terence has “the beginning of the story begins for me”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==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”.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) 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.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ 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.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) In medieval Latin it also meant a base or foundation.^(Niermeyer 1976) English ''initial'' comes from its derivative ''initiālis''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of the beginning of a story.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 50 BC – Caesar has ''initium capere ab''.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|beginning]], start; accession; birth.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A starting point.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(plural)'' The first stage.^(OLD 2012)

+ # An origin, occasion; a person's origins.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(plural)'' Elements, first principles.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(plural)'' Initiatory rites, [[m|en|mystery|alt=mysteries]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A going in, entrance.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[initiālis]]

+ * [[initiō]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ineo]]

+ * [[en|initial]]

+ * [[en|initiate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Döderlein says ''initium'' is the beginning in an abstract sense, the mere point where a thing begins, as opposed to ''exitus''.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}