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ot; to originate; to commence; to begin or enter upon. How are changes of this sort to be initiated I. Taylor.

To attach (to) or unite (with); to receive into a society as a member, and initiate into its mysteries, plans, etc.; -- followed by to or with. Affiliated societies, societies connected with a central society, or with each other.

e missionary who first plants the Christian faith in any part of the world; also, one who initiates any great moral reform, or first advocates any important belief; one who has extraordinary success as a missionary or reformer; as, Dionysius of Corinth is called the apostle of France, John Eliot the apostle to the Indi…

he application of water to a person, as a sacrament or religious ceremony, by which he is initiated into the visible church of Christ. This is performed by immersion, sprinkling, or pouring.

A secret name; a name by which a person is known only to the initiated.

To initiate; to introduce favorably. [Obs.] Shak.

Designed for, and understood by, the specially initiated alone; not communicated, or not intelligible, to the general body of followers; private; interior; acroamatic; -- said of the private and more recondite instructions and doctrines of philosophers. Opposed to exoteric. Enough if every age produce two or three crit…

To feed with flesh, as an incitement to further exertion; to initiate; -- from the practice of training hawks and dogs by feeding them with the first game they take, or other flesh. Hence, to use upon flesh (as a murderous weapon) so as to draw blood, especially for the first time. Full bravely hast thou fleshed Thy ma…

Glutted; satiated; initiated. Fleshed with slaughter. Dryden.

The presiding priest who initiated candidates at the Eleusinian mysteries; hence, one who teaches the mysteries and duties of religion. Abp Potter.

To initiate the doctrines or principles of the Illuminati.

esp. with formality or solemn ceremony; hence, to set in motion, action, or progress; to initiate; -- used especially of something of dignity or worth or public concern; as, to inaugurate a new era of things, new methods, etc. As if kings did closes remarkable days to inaugurate their favors. Sir H. Wotton.…

The act of initiating, or the process of being initiated or introduced; as, initiation into a society, into business, literature, etc. "The initiation of coursers of events." Pope.

Serving to initiate; inceptive; initiatory; introductory; preliminary.

One who initiates.

Tending or serving to initiate; introducing by instruction, or by the use and application of symbols or ceremonies; elementary; rudimentary. Some initiatory treatises in the law. Herbert. Two initiatory rites of the same general import can not exist together. J. M. Mason.

nd of secret religious celebration, to which none were admitted except those who had been initiated by certain preparatory ceremonies; -- usually plural; as, the Eleusinian mysteries.

To begin; to initiate. [Obs.] Sir M. Hale.

To protect from the intrusion of the uninitiated; as, to tile a Masonic lodge.