Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

initiative

/ɪˈnɪʃ.ə.tɪv/ adjective, noun

Forms initiatives

  1. adjective (archaic) Serving to initiate.
  2. adjective (US) In which voter initiatives can be brought to the ballot.
  3. noun A beginning; a first move.
  4. noun A new development; a fresh approach to something; a new way of dealing with a problem.
  5. noun The ability to act first or on one's own.
  6. noun (politics) An issue to be voted on, brought to the ballot by a sufficient number of signatures from among the voting public.

Synonyms

inceptive initiatory introductory preliminary enterprise enterprisingness go-ahead first step opening move opening inaugural first maiden

Antonyms

noninitiative

Etymology

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

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective Serving to initiate; inceptive; initiatory; introductory; preliminary.
  2. noun An introductory step or movement; an act which originates or begins.
  3. noun The right or power to introduce a new measure or course of action, as in legislation; as, the initiative in respect to revenue bills is in the House of Representatives.

Etymology [Cf. F. initiatif.]

Etymology [Cf. F. initiative.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “initiative”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “initiative” (best matches first).