1. (a.) Serving to initiate; inceptive; initiatory; introductory; preliminary.
2. (n.) An introductory step or movement; an act which originates or begins.
3. (n.) 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.
Thesaurus Entries
abecedarian, aboriginal, adventuresomeness, adventurousness, aggression, aggressiveness, alpha, ambition, ambitiousness, antenatal, autochthonous, bang, baptismal, beginning, breaking-in, budding, constitutional referendum, creative, dash, direct initiative, drive, dynamism, elan, elemental, elementary, embryonic, energy, enterprise, enterprisingness, facultative referendum, fetal, fire, first, first blush, first glance, first impression, first inning, first lap, first move, first round, first sight, first stage, first step, force, forcefulness, formative, foundational, fundamental, gambit, gestatory, get-up-and-get, get-up-and-go, getup, ginger, go, go-ahead, go-getting, go-to-itiveness, gumption, hustle, in embryo, in its infancy, in the bud, inaugural, inceptive, inchoate, inchoative, incipient, incunabular, indirect initiative, infant, infantile, initial, initiatory, introductive, introductory, inventive, kick, le premier pas, lead, leadership, mandate, mandatory referendum, nascent, natal, opening move, original, parturient, pep, pepper, piss and vinegar, pizzazz, plebiscite, plebiscitum, poop, postnatal, pregnant, prenatal, primal, primary, prime, primeval, primitive, primitiveness, primitivity, primogenial, procreative, punch, push, pushfulness, pushiness, pushingness, recall, referendum, resourcefulness, rudimental, rudimentary, snap, spirit, spunk, starch, statutory referendum, thrust, up-and-comingness, ur, venturesomeness, venturousness, verve, vigor, vim, warming-up, zing, zip
