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Initial vs Normal - What's the difference?

initial | normal |

As nouns the difference between initial and normal

is that initial is the first letter of a word or a name while normal is standard.

As an adjective initial

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

As a verb initial

is to sign one's initial(s), as an abbreviated signature.

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

    normal

    English

    (wikipedia normal)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • According to norms or rules.
  • Healthy; not sick or ill.
  • Pertaining to a school to teach teachers how to teach.
  • (chemistry) Of, relating to, or being a solution containing one equivalent weight of solute per litre of solution.
  • (organic chemistry) Describing a straight chain isomer of an aliphatic hydrocarbon, or an aliphatic compound in which a substituent is in the 1- position of such a hydrocarbon.
  • (physics) (Of a mode in an oscillating system ) In which all parts of an object vibrate at the same frequency; See .
  • (geometry) Perpendicular to a tangent line or derivative of a surface in Euclidean space.
  • * The interior normal vector of a ideal perfect sphere will always point toward the center, and the exterior normal vector directly away, and both will always be co-linear with the ray whose' tip ends at the point of intersection, which is the intersection of all three sets of points.
  • (algebra) (Of a subgroup) whose cosets form a group.
  • (algebra) (Of a field extension of a field K) which is the splitting field of a family of polynomials in K.
  • (probability theory, statistics) (Of a distribution) which has a very specific bell curve shape.
  • (complex analysis) (Of a family of continuous functions) which is pre-compact.
  • (set theory) (Of a function from the ordinals to the ordinals) which is strictly monotonically increasing and continuous with respect to the order topology.
  • (linear algebra) (Of a matrix) which commutes with its conjugate transpose.
  • (functional analysis) (Of a Hilbert space operator) which commutes with its adjoint.
  • (category theory) (Of an epimorphism) which is the cokernel of some morphism.
  • (category theory) (Of a monomorphism) which is the kernel of some morphism.
  • (category theory) (Of a morphism) which is a normal epimorphism or a normal monomorphism.
  • (category theory) (Of a category) in which every monomorphism is normal.
  • (Of a real number) whose digits, in any base representation, enjoy a uniform distribution.
  • (topology) (Of a topology) in which disjoint closed sets can be separated by disjoint neighborhoods.
  • (rail transport, Of points) in the default position, set for the most frequently used route.
  • Synonyms

    * (usual) conventional, ordinary, standard, usual, regular, average, expected, natural * (healthy) hale, healthy, well * (perpendicular) at right angles to, perpendicular, orthogonal * (statistics) Gaussian

    Antonyms

    * (usual) unconventional, nonstandard, unusual * (healthy) ill, poorly (British), sick, unwell * (perpendicular) tangential * (rail transport) reverse

    Derived terms

    * abnormal * conormal * normalcy * normalise, normalize * normality * normally * normal school * normal vector * orthonormal * paranormal * subnormal * supernormal * ultranormal

    Usage notes

    * Warning: normal , when used to describe a majority group of people, can be considered offensive to those who don't consider membership of their own minority to be unusual. Care should be taken when juxtaposing normal, particularly with stereotypical labels, to avoid undue insult.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (geometry) A line or vector that is perpendicular to another line, surface, or plane.
  • (slang) A person who is normal, who fits into mainstream society, as opposed to those who live alternative lifestyles.
  • Synonyms

    * (normal person) see