initialize
initialize Lexical Profile
initialize Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To set to a starting value, state, or configuration at the beginning of a computer program or subprogram (especially of a variable, counter, register, or hardware device).
"Always remember to initialize your variables before using them in a loop to prevent unexpected memory errors."
To format or prepare a computer storage medium, such as a hard drive or disk, so that it is ready to receive and store data.
"The operating system prompted the user to initialize the new external hard drive before any files could be copied onto it."
Word Nuance & Usage
While "initiate" is used in general contexts for beginning an action, process, or membership, "initialize" is restricted almost exclusively to computing and technical contexts for setting variables, hardware, or storage media to their starting state.
• Rhymes for initialize
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the mid-20th century with the rise of digital computing by combining the adjective "initial" (from Latin "initialis", meaning "of the beginning", from "initium", "entrance or beginning") with the verbal suffix "-ize".