different between initial vs essential

English

Etymology

From Middle French initial or straightway from its Latin etymon initi?lis (“of the beginning, incipient, initial”), from initium (“a going in, entrance, beginning”), from inire (“to go in, enter upon, begin”), from in (“in”) + ire (“to go”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??n???l/
• Rhymes: -???l

Adjective

initial (not comparable)

1. Chronologically first, early; of or pertaining to the beginning, cause or origin.
2. Spatially first, placed at the beginning, in the first position; especially said of the first letter of a word.

Synonyms

• incipient
• opening

Antonyms

• final

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

initial (plural initials)

1. The first letter of a word or a name.
2. 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.

3. (typography, calligraphy) A distinguished initial letter of a chapter or section of a document.
4. (phonology) onset, part of a syllable that precedes the syllable nucleus in phonetics and phonology.

Synonyms

• (typography, calligraphy): drop cap, versal

Derived terms

• initialism
• initial teaching alphabet

Translations

Verb

initial (third-person singular simple present initials, present participle initialing or initialling, simple past and past participle initialed or initialled)

1. (transitive) To sign one's initial(s), as an abbreviated signature.

Translations

Related terms

See also

• middle

Further reading

• initial in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• initial in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• initial at OneLook Dictionary Search

French

Etymology

From Latin initi?lis, from initium (“beginning”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.ni.sjal/
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

initial (feminine singular initiale, masculine plural initiaux, feminine plural initiales)

1. initial

Related terms

Further reading

• “initial” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ini?t?s??a?l/

Adjective

initial (not comparable)

1. initial, incipient

Declension

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin initi?lis.

Noun

initial m (definite singular initialen, indefinite plural initialer, definite plural initialene)

1. an initial (first letter of a name)

References

• “initial” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin initi?lis.

Noun

initial m (definite singular initialen, indefinite plural initialar, definite plural initialane)

1. an initial (first letter of a name)

References

• “initial” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

English

Alternative forms

• essentiall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Late Latin essenti?lis, from Latin essentia (“being, essence”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??s?n.??l/, [??s?n.t??l]
• Hyphenation: es?sen?tial

Adjective

essential (comparative more essential, superlative most essential)

1. Necessary.

   Synonyms: indispensable; see also Thesaurus:requisite

   Antonyms: accidental, accessorial, incidental, unnecessary, unneeded
2. Very important; of high importance.

   Synonyms: crucial; see also Thesaurus:important

   Antonyms: unimportant; see also Thesaurus:insignificant
3. (biology) necessary for survival but not synthesized by the organism, thus needing to be ingested
4. Being in the basic form; showing its essence.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:intrinsic, Thesaurus:bare-bones

   Antonyms: adscititious; see also Thesaurus:extrinsic

5. Really existing; existent.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:existent

   Antonyms: see Thesaurus:inexistent
6. (geometry) Such that each complementary region is irreducible, the boundary of each complementary region is incompressible by disks and monogons in the complementary region, and no leaf is a sphere or a torus bounding a solid torus in the manifold.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

7. (medicine) Idiopathic.
8. Having the nature of essence; not physical.

Antonyms

• inessential, unessential, non-essential, nonessential

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

essential (plural essentials)

1. A necessary ingredient.
2. A fundamental ingredient.

   (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Related terms

• essence

Translations

Further reading

• essential on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• siletanes