Initial means happening at the beginning or first in a series. As a noun, it is the first letter of a name.
It comes from Latin “initialis,” meaning “of the beginning,” from “initium” (beginning, entrance). The noun use for first letters grew from the idea of the beginning of a word or name.
Your initials are literally your name’s “beginnings.” The word connects starting points in time (initial steps) with starting points in writing (initial letters). It’s a neat example of how language reuses one simple idea—“the beginning”—in several different ways.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.