initial
French, adjective/i.ni.sjal/
initial is spelled I-N-I-T-I-A-L (7 letters) and appears 12 times per million words in written French, the 5,743rd most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Initial is a French adjective meaning “initial” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Qui est au commencement, qui marque le commencement d’une chose”.
What does initial mean in English?
adjective
- 1
initial
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui est au commencement, qui marque le commencement d’une chose. 2. Qualifie les lettres, les syllabes qui commencent un mot. 3. Qualifie la lettre qui commence un livre, un chapitre ; elle est ordinairement plus grande que les majuscules du texte, et quelquefois accompagnée d’ornements. 4. Qualifie la vitesse d’un mobile au commencement de sa course, par exemple d’un projectile au sortir de l’arme.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of initial
- initiale feminine
- initiaux masculine plural
- initiales feminine plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce initial?
- /i.ni.sjal/
- \i.ni.sjal\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to initial
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is initial in French?
initial appears 12 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).