Meanings
nouninitiator (plural initiators)
plural initiators
- One who initiates.
- chemistryA substance that initiates a chain reaction or polymerization.
- governmentA component of a nuclear weapon that produces a burst of neutrons to start the chain reaction.
‘This, er, initiator of polonium and lithium, would it be used in an anti-personnel bomb?’ he asked. ‘Oh yes, you could say so, boyo,’ replied the Welshman. ‘An initiator, you see, is what sets off a nuke.’
1984, Frederick Forsyth, The Fourth Protocol, London: Hutchinson, →ISBN, page 301 - computingA task (in a mainframe computer) that initiates multiple jobs.
- medicineA material whose presence in the body eventually leads to cancer.
Synonyms & antonyms
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latininitiātor
- Englishinitiator
Borrowed from Latin initiātor. By surface analysis, initiate + or.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مُبَادِر
- مُبَادِر (mubādir)one who initiates
Bulgarian инициатор
- инициатор (iniciator)one who initiates
Catalan iniciador, iniciadora
- iniciadorone who initiates
- iniciadoraone who initiates
Chinese Mandarin 创办者，发起人
- 创办者，发起人one who initiates
Dutch initiator
- initiatorone who initiates
Finnish alullepanija, aloittaja
- alullepanijaone who initiates
- aloittajaone who initiates
- käynnistäjäone who initiates
- käynnistäjächemistry: substance that initiates a chain reaction or polymerization
- laukaisinmilitary: component of a nuclear weapon
- käynnistäjämedicine: material whose presence in the body eventually leads to cancer
- initiaattorimedicine: material whose presence in the body eventually leads to cancer
French initiateur, initiatrice
- initiateurone who initiates
- initiatriceone who initiates
German Initiator, Initiatorin
- Initiatorone who initiates
- Initiatorinone who initiates
- Initiatorchemistry: substance that initiates a chain reaction or polymerization
Indonesian inisiator, pemrakarsa
- inisiatorone who initiates
- pemrakarsaone who initiates
- peloporone who initiates
Italian iniziatore, iniziatrice
- iniziatoreone who initiates
- iniziatriceone who initiates
Japanese 言い出しっ屁
- 言い出しっ屁 (iidashippe)one who initiates
Malay pemula
- pemulaone who initiates
Russian инициа́тор, основополо́жник
- инициа́тор (iniciátor)one who initiates
- основополо́жник (osnovopolóžnik)one who initiates
Spanish iniciador, iniciadora
- iniciadorone who initiates
- iniciadoraone who initiates
Ukrainian ініціа́тор, ініціа́торка
- ініціа́тор (iniciátor)one who initiates
- ініціа́торка (iniciátorka)one who initiates
- зачина́тель (začynátelʹ)one who initiates
- зачина́телька (začynátelʹka)one who initiates
- основополо́жник (osnovopolóžnyk)one who initiates
- основополо́жниця (osnovopolóžnycja)one who initiates
Cite this entry
APA
initiator. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/initiator
MLA
“initiator.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/initiator. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “initiator,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/initiator.
Source: initiator on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.