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Initial vs Begin - What's the difference?

initial | begin |

In lang=en terms the difference between initial and begin

is that initial is to sign one's initial(s), as an abbreviated signature while begin is to commence existence.

As nouns the difference between initial and begin

is that initial is the first letter of a word or a name while begin is (nonstandard) beginning; start.

As verbs the difference between initial and begin

is that initial is to sign one's initial(s), as an abbreviated signature while begin is (ambitransitive) to start, to initiate or take the first step into something.

As an adjective initial

is chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning, cause or origin.

initial

Adjective

(-)
  • Chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning, cause or origin.
  • :
  • :
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=19 citation , passage=Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.}}
  • Spatially first, placed at the beginning, in the first position; especially said of the first letter of a word.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial , a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.
  • Synonyms

    * incipient * opening

    Antonyms

    * final

    Derived terms

    * initially * initialness

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The first letter of a word or a name.
  • In plural, the first letter of each word of a person's full name considered as a unit
  • You can get your initials printed at the top.
  • (typesetting, calligraphy) A distinguished initial letter of a chapter or section of a document.
  • (phonology) onset, part of a syllable that precedes the syllable nucleus in phonetics and phonology.
  • Synonyms

    * drop cap, versal

    Derived terms

    * initialism * initial teaching alphabet

    Verb

  • To sign one's initial(s), as an abbreviated signature.
  • Please initial each page and sign the contract in full at the bottom.

    See also

    * middle

    begin

    English

    (wikipedia begin)

    Verb

  • (ambitransitive) To start, to initiate or take the first step into something.
  • * (John Locke) (1632-1705)
  • The apostle begins our knowledge in the creatures, which leads us to the knowledge of God.
  • * (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • Ye nymphs of Solyma! begin the song.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda.}}
  • * , chapter=5
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=29, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Unspontaneous combustion , passage=Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia.}}
  • To commence existence.
  • * (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • Vast chain of being! which from God began .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (nonstandard) Beginning; start.
  • References

    * *

    Statistics

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