different between initiative vs ambition

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Adjective

initiative (not comparable)

1. Serving to initiate; inceptive; initiatory; introductory; preliminary.
2. In which voter initiatives can be brought to the ballot.
   • a. 2008, 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, page 122 [1]:

     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

Translations

Noun

initiative (countable and uncountable, plural initiatives)

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

Translations

Further reading

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

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Noun

initiative f (plural initiatives)

1. initiative
   • Prendre l'initiative.

Derived terms

• syndicat d'initiative

Further reading

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

English

Etymology

From Middle English ambicion, from Old French ambition, from Latin ambiti? (“ambition, a striving for favor, literally 'a going around', especially of candidates for office in Rome soliciting votes”), from ambi? (“I go around, solicit votes”). See ambient, issue.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /æm?b?.??n/

Noun

ambition (countable and uncountable, plural ambitions)

1. (uncountable, countable) Eager or inordinate desire for some object that confers distinction, as preferment, honor, superiority, political power, or literary fame; desire to distinguish one's self from other people.
   • 1756, Edmund Burke, A Vindication of Natural Society

     the pitiful ambition of possessing five or six thousand more acres

2. (countable) An object of an ardent desire.

3. A desire, as in (sense 1), for another person to achieve these things.
4. (uncountable) A personal quality similar to motivation, not necessarily tied to a single goal.
5. (obsolete) The act of going about to solicit or obtain an office, or any other object of desire; canvassing.

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ambition.

Related terms

• ambience
• ambient
• ambit
• ambitious
• ambitionist

Translations

Verb

ambition (third-person singular simple present ambitions, present participle ambitioning, simple past and past participle ambitioned)

1. To seek after ambitiously or eagerly; to covet.
   • 1746, C Turnbull, The Histories Of Marcus Junianus Justinus

     Pausanias, ambitioning the sovereignty of Greece, bargains with Xerxes for his daughter in marriage.

Further reading

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

Danish

Noun

ambition c

1. ambition

Declension

Related terms

• ambitiøs

Further reading

• “ambition” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “ambition” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Finnish

Noun

ambition

1. Genitive singular form of ambitio.

French

Etymology

From Latin ambiti?

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.bi.sj??/

Noun

ambition f (plural ambitions)

1. ambition (feeling)

Related terms

• ambitieux
• ambitionner

Further reading

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

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

ambition c

1. en ambition

Declension

Related terms

• ambitiös