initial
noun/ɪˈnɪʃl/
/ɪˈnɪʃl/
- [countable] the first letter of a person’s first name or middle name
- ‘What initial is it, Mrs Owen?’ ‘It's J, J for Jane.’
- ‘What's your middle initial?’ ‘M—I'm John M Butler.’
- We have the same initials and surname.
- initials[plural] the first letters of all the names of a person or thing
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy was often known by his initials JFK.
- Just write your initials.
Extra Examples- A stone over the door bears the initials ‘R.P.’, which stand for ‘Ralph Piggot’.
- He carved his girlfriend's initials in the rock.
- She's always been known by her initials.
- The two authors have the same initials.
- Now that she was chief executive officer, she could put the initials CEO after her name.
- SC are the initials for Santa Catarina.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + initial- have
- be known by
- become known by
- …
- stand for something
- initial for
Word Originearly 16th cent.: from Latin initialis, from initium ‘beginning’, from inire ‘go in’, from in- ‘into’ + ire ‘go’.
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initial