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Pioneer vs Initiate - What's the difference?

pioneer | initiate |

As nouns the difference between pioneer and initiate

is that pioneer is one who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow while initiate is a new member of an organization.

As verbs the difference between pioneer and initiate

is that pioneer is to go before and prepare or open a way for; to act as pioneer while initiate is to begin; to start.

As an adjective initiate is

unpractised; untried; new.

pioneer

English

(Webster 1913)

Noun

(en noun)
  • One who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow.
  • A person or other entity who is first or among the earliest in any field of inquiry, enterprise, or progress.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-05-10
  • , author=Audrey Garric , title=Urban canopies let nature bloom , volume=188, issue=22, page=30 , magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) citation , passage=As towns continue to grow, replanting vegetation has become a form of urban utopia and green roofs are spreading fast. Last year 1m square metres of plant-covered roofing was built in France, as much as in the US, and 10 times more than in Germany, the pioneer in this field.}}
    Some people will consider their national heroes to be pioneers of civilization.
    Certain politicians can be considered as pioneers of reform.
  • (obsolete, military)   A soldier detailed or employed to form roads, dig trenches, and make bridges, as an army advances; a sapper.
  • A member of any of several European organizations advocating abstinence from alcohol.
  • (Communism)   A child of 10–16 years in the former Soviet Union, in the second of the three stages in becoming a member of the Communist Party.
  • Derived terms

    * pioneer axon * Pioneer Day

    See also

    * (Pioneer movement)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To go before and prepare or open a way for; to act as pioneer.
  • Synonyms

    * push the envelope * break new ground

    initiate

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (obsolete) Unpractised; untried; new.
  • * Shakespeare
  • the initiate fear that wants hard use
  • (obsolete) Begun; commenced; introduced to, or instructed in, the rudiments; newly admitted.
  • * Young
  • To rise in science as in bliss, / Initiate in the secrets of the skies.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A new member of an organization.
  • One who has been through a ceremony of initiation.
  • Verb

    (initiat)
  • To begin; to start.
  • * I. Taylor
  • How are changes of this sort to be initiated ?
  • To instruct in the rudiments or principles; to introduce.
  • * Dr. H. More
  • Providence would only initiate mankind into the useful knowledge of her treasures, leaving the rest to employ our industry.
  • * John Locke
  • To initiate his pupil into any part of learning, an ordinary skill in the governor is enough.
  • To confer membership on; especially, to admit to a secret order with mysterious rites or ceremonies.
  • * Bishop Warburton
  • The Athenians believed that he who was initiated and instructed in the mysteries would obtain celestial honour after death.
  • * Spectator
  • He was initiated into half a dozen clubs before he was one and twenty.
  • To do the first act; to perform the first rite; to take the initiative.
  • (Alexander Pope)

    Antonyms

    * (to begin) end, conclude, complete, finish