If you want to end the feud between your siblings, you might need to initiate peace talks — and come up with a fair way to decide who gets the top bunk. As a verb, initiate means to start. As a noun, initiate refers to someone who has been inducted into a group.
Initiate is tricky because you pronounce the last bit one way as a verb (i-ni-she-ate) and another when it's a noun (i-ni-she-at). If you're an initiate, you've been introduced to a field of study, an activity, a club, etc. As a verb, to initiate is to begin, pioneer, or broach a topic. You might say, "Let's initiate the swearing-in ceremony so our new initiates can join the Rule-Breakers' Club and still get home without missing their curfews."
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