Meaning of initiative in English

Meaning of initiative in English

initiative
noun
UK 
/ɪˈnɪʃ.ə.tɪv/ US 
/ɪˈnɪʃ.ə.t̬ɪv/

initiative noun ⁽_{NEW PLAN}⁾

C1 [ C ]
a new plan or process to achieve something or solve a problem:
The peace initiative was welcomed by both sides.
More examples

• 
  The German leadership lauded the Russian initiative.
  
• 
  The UN called on all parties in the conflict to take a positive stance towards the new peace initiative.
  
• 
  Joe Walker will be spearheading our new marketing initiative.
  
• 
  The initiative has across-the-board support.
  
• 
  He began his lecture by talking down the initiatives of a rival company.
  

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initiative noun ⁽_JUDGMENT⁾

C1 [ U ]
the ability to use your judgment to make decisions and do things without needing to be told what to do:
Although she was quite young, she showed a lot of initiative and was promoted to manager after a year.
I shouldn't always have to tell you what to do, use your initiative (= use your own judgment to decide what to do)!
on your own initiative
If you do something on your own initiative, you plan it and decide to do it yourself without anyone telling you what to do.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

initiative noun ⁽_ADVANTAGE⁾

the initiative C1 [ S ]
the power or opportunity to win an advantage:
to seize/take/lose the initiative
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
(Definition of initiative from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

initiative | AMERICAN DICTIONARY

initiative
noun
US 
/ɪˈnɪʃ·ə·t̬ɪv, ɪˈnɪʃ·i·ə-/

initiative noun ⁽_{ABILITY TO TAKE ACTION}⁾

[ U ]
the ability to judge what needs to be done and take action, esp. without suggestion from other people:
Lisa showed initiative on the job and was soon promoted.

initiative noun ⁽_{NEW BEGINNING}⁾

[ C ]
a new attempt to achieve a goal or solve a problem, or a new method for doing this:
The defense secretary announced a major initiative to upgrade our military preparedness.
(Definition of initiative from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

initiative | BUSINESS ENGLISH

initiative
noun
UK 
/ɪˈnɪʃətɪv/ US 
[ C ]
a new plan or action to improve something or solve a problem:
a marketing/cost-cutting initiative
a diplomatic/peace initiative
an education/environmental/economic initiative
[ U ]
the ability to use your own judgment to make decisions without asking another person's advice:
take/seize/lose the initiative The group's legal advisers said they were taking the initiative to tackle online privacy issues.
Candidates for the job must be capable of working on their own initiative.
(Definition of initiative from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

EXAMPLES of initiative

initiative
Works that were centrally planned and assigned, moreover, had a better chance of seeing print than did books written on personal initiative.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
A system of rewards for civilian assistance to the police was one such initiative.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
This can make study findings appear redundant as the health service rushes on to experiment with the next new initiative.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
As it is possible to observe, the high negative coefficient indicates a very significant replacement effect between executive decrees and bill initiatives.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
On financial services, the policy initiative was in the hands of the corporate lobbyists who pushed for a project which was eventually implemented.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Each factor could cause an observed relationship between initiative use and efficacy to be spurious.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
We expect more initiatives generally to lead to greater efficacy, but we also examine whether this relationship is non-linear.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The interaction terms were used to test whether ballot initiatives have a stigmatizing effect on racial and ethnic minorities, leading to lower political efficacy.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The first phase of liberal social policy supported a dual model with a strong call for self-help and philanthropic initiatives.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Each of these initiatives would be as important for dual worker households as for working single parents.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Despite their shortcomings, both initiatives dramatically improved hemispheric relations.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
This rose dramatically, to 3963 schools in 1900 and to 6032 in 1901, showing the dramatic improvement brought about by the in-service initiative.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
A further problem confronting all three of these initiatives has been that of external assistance.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
This would be a sadly lost opportunity at a time when new musical and technical initiatives are badly needed within the wider community.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
A health promotion coordinator can play a vital role in educating/supporting staff, driving organizational initiatives and liaising with community agencies.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.