Inits

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Informally, the first letters of someone's name written as a signature or mark ; in computing, prepares a variable or system by assigning it a starting value
2. Short for initials, the opening letters of a person's full name ; in programming, it sets a variable or system to its original starting condition
3. The first letters of a name used as a shorthand mark ; in software, it establishes the starting state of a program or piece of data

Etymology: "Inits" is the third-person singular present form of "init", which is a clipping of "initialize" or "initialization". Clipping shortens a longer word by chopping off its ends, so "init" keeps only the opening syllable of the full verb. The verb "initialize" is itself built from "initial", from Latin "initialis", meaning "of the beginning", which in turn comes from "initium", a beginning. In computing, "initialize" means to set a variable or system to its starting state before anything else runs, and the clipped form has been used in programming and technical talk as a quicker way to say the same thing.

Synonyms: initials