Initiative

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪˈnɪʃətɪv/
• Rhymes: -ɪʃətɪv

Origin

From French initiative, from Medieval Latin *initiativus ("serving to initiate"), from Late Latin initiare, from Latin initium ("beginning"), from ineo ("enter, begin").

Full definition of initiative

Noun

1. A beginning; a first move.
2. A new development; a fresh approach to something; a new way of dealing with a problem.
3. The ability to act first or on one's own.
4. An issue to be voted on, brought to the ballot by a sufficient number of signatures from among the voting public.

Synonyms

• (issue to be voted on) direct initiative

Derived terms

• direct initiative

Related terms

• initial
• initialism
• initialization
• initialize
• initiate
• initiation

Adjective

1. Serving to initiate; inceptive; initiatory; introductory; preliminary.
2. In which voter initiatives can be brought to the ballot.
• John G. Matsusaka, "Direct Democracy and the Executive Branch", in, 2008, Shaun Bowler and Amihai Glazer, editors, Direct Democracy's Impact on American Political Institutions, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 9780230604452, page 122 http://books.google.com/books?id=J6swcucKdNIC&pg=PA122&dq=initiative:The second row shows that initiative states fill more constitutional offices by election than noninitiative states, and the difference is statistically significant after controlling for region and population.

Antonyms

• noninitiative