initially

I1N1I1T1I1A1L1L1Y4
/ɪˈnɪʃəli//ɪˈnɪʃli/

adverb

At the beginning.

“Initially, I found city life incredibly difficult, but now I'm used to it.”

CommonScrabble 12

Meanings

adverbinitially (not comparable)
  1. not comparableAt the beginning.

    Initially, I found city life incredibly difficult, but now I'm used to it.

    2 more examples

    In his submission to the UN, [Christof] Heyns points to the experience of drones. Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance, and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited, yet once strategists realised their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.

    2013 June 7, Ed Pilkington, “‘Killer robots’ should be banned in advance, UN told”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, archived from the original on 01 Feb 2022, page 6

    Unsurprisingly, the Group was highly critical of the BTC's organisation and finances, and this prompted Marples to bring forward the Transport Act 1962, which created BR as a standalone entity with its own Board, headed by a full-time chairman. Beeching accepted this latter position, and initially became the BTC chairman in June 1961.

    2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 43
  2. not comparableRelating to initials.

Synonyms & antonyms

adverbat the beginning

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Ancient Greek τὴν ἀρχὴν
  • τὴν ἀρχὴν (tḕn arkhḕn)at the beginning
Bulgarian първоначално, отначало
  • първоначално (părvonačalno)at the beginning
  • отначало (otnačalo)at the beginning
Chinese Mandarin 起初, 最初
  • 起初 (qǐchū)at the beginning
  • 最初 (zuìchū)at the beginning
Dutch aanvankelijk
  • aanvankelijkat the beginning
Esperanto komence
  • komenceat the beginning
Finnish aluksi, alun perin
  • aluksiat the beginning
  • alun perinat the beginning
French initialement, au début
  • initialementat the beginning
  • au débutat the beginning
  • au commencementat the beginning
German zunächst, anfangs
  • zunächstat the beginning
  • anfangsat the beginning
Japanese 始めに
  • 始めに (hajime ni)at the beginning
Korean 처음에
  • 처음에 (cheo'eume)at the beginning
Polish początkowo
  • początkowoat the beginning
Portuguese inicialmente
  • inicialmenteat the beginning
Russian первонача́льно, изнача́льно
  • первонача́льно (pervonačálʹno)at the beginning
  • изнача́льно (iznačálʹno)at the beginning
  • снача́ла (snačála)at the beginning
  • внача́ле (vnačále)at the beginning
Scottish Gaelic an toiseach, sa chiad dol a-mach
  • an toiseachat the beginning
  • sa chiad dol a-machat the beginning
Spanish inicialmente, al principio
  • inicialmenteat the beginning
  • al principioat the beginning
  • en un principioat the beginning
  • al comienzoat the beginning
  • al inicioat the beginning
Swahili mwanzo
  • mwanzoat the beginning
Swedish inledningsvis
  • inledningsvisat the beginning
Thai ตอนแรก
  • ตอนแรกat the beginning
Cite this entry
APA

initially. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/initially

MLA

“initially.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/initially. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “initially,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/initially.

Source: initially on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.