initialize

verb — 5 senses

initialize

verb

/ɪˈnɪʃəlaɪz/

Etymology From initial + -ize.

1

British, English, Oxford, US To assign initial values to something.

2

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences British, English, Oxford, US To assign an initial value to a variable.

3

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences British, English, Oxford, US To format a storage medium prior to use.

4

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences British, English, Oxford, US To prepare any hardware (such as a printer or scanner) for use.

5

British, English, Oxford, US, Dated To reduce (a phrase) to an initialism, or a word to its initial.

Derived terms: deinitialize, initializable, initialization, initializer, noninitialized, preinitialize, reinitialize, uninitialize, uninitialized

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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Conjugation of “initialize”, all tenses