INI'TIATE, verb transitive [Low Latin initio, to enter or begin, from initum, ineo, to enter; in and eo, to go.] 1. To instruct in rudiments or principles; or to introduce into any society or sect by instructing the candidate in its principles or ceremonies; as, to initiate a person into the mysteries of Ceres. 2. To introduce into a new state or society; as, to initiate one into a club. 3. To instruct; to acquaint with; as, to initiate one in the higher branches of mathematics. 4. To begin upon. INI'TIATE, verb intransitive To do the first act; to perform the first rite. INI'TIATE, adjective Unpracticed. 1. Begun; commenced. A tenant by the curtesy initiate becomes so by the birth of a child, but his estate is not consummate till the death of the wife. INI'TIATE, noun One who is initiated.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI