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inaugurate

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To induct into office by a formal ceremony.
  • transitive verb To cause to begin, especially officially or formally: synonym: begin.
  • transitive verb To open or begin use of formally with a ceremony; dedicate.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Inaugurated; invested with office; inducted; installed.
  • To introduce or induct into office with suitable ceremonies; invest formally with an office.
  • To make a formal beginning of; put in action or operation; initiate, especially something of dignity or importance: as, to inaugurate a reform.
  • [The word is often inelegantly applied in this sense, especially in newspapers, to trivial or ignoble subjects.
  • To institute or initiate the use of, especially by some formal opening ceremony: as, to inaugurate a railroad, a public building, or a statue.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Invested with office; inaugurated.
  • transitive verb To introduce or induct into an office with suitable ceremonies or solemnities; to invest with power or authority in a formal manner; to install
  • transitive verb To cause to begin, 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
  • transitive verb colloq. To celebrate the completion of, or the first public use of; to dedicate, as a statue.
  • transitive verb obsolete To begin with good omens.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To induct into office with a formal ceremony.
  • verb transitive To dedicate ceremoniously; to initiate something in a formal manner.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb be a precursor of
  • verb open ceremoniously or dedicate formally
  • verb commence officially

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin inaugurāre, inaugurāt-, to consecrate by augury : in-, intensive pref.; see in– + augurāre, to augur (from augur, soothsayer; see aug- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French inaugurer ("to invest"), from Latin inaugurō ("approve on the basis of omens"), from in ("in") + augur ("an augur").

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Examples

  • She pined to put them to bed at seven o'clock, keep them four or five hours of every day in the open air, give them simple, nourishing food, -- in short, inaugurate the wholesome nursery system of her own country.

    Lippincott's Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science Old Series, Vol. 36—New Series, Vol. 10, July 1885 Various

  • As far as we have been able to understand the situation consequent on the choice of Mr. Lincoln to fill the Presidential chair, the policy which he proposes to inaugurate is not necessarily aggressive.

    Disunion in the United States 1861

  • A Protagonist of Silver SOME Financiers who were whetting their tongues on their teeth because the Government had "struck down" silver, and were about to "inaugurate" a season of sweatshed, were addressed as follows by a Member of their honourable and warlike body:

    Fantastic Fables Bierce, Ambrose, 1842-1914? 1899

  • Knox, of course, objected; he preached at St. Andrews before Morton inducted a primate of his clan, but he refused to "inaugurate" the new prelate.

    John Knox and the Reformation Andrew Lang 1878

  • Some Financiers who were whetting their tongues on their teeth because the Government had "struck down" silver, and were about to "inaugurate" a season of sweatshed, were addressed as follows by a Member of their honourable and warlike body:

    Fantastic Fables Ambrose Bierce 1878

  • Hidden in our word "inaugurate" is the record of the fact that nothing could be properly begun without the assistance of the augurs.

    Ten Great Religions An Essay in Comparative Theology James Freeman Clarke 1849

  • - to decide whether to 'inaugurate' a government on Nov. 20 or Dec. 1.

    Mexico Tribunal Upholds Election Result Oxford Analytica 2006

  • "inaugurate" the new graveyard, "they had to shoot a man on purpose."

    The Life of the Rt. Hon. Sir Charles W. Dilke, Volume 1 Stephen Lucius Gwynn 1907

  • "inaugurate" a speech, if you will not settle for known and tested seasoned points.

    WordPress.com News 2008

  • In 2005, Rebar, an arts collective in San Francisco, potently employed a set of parentheses to inaugurate PARKing Day, an annual event inviting the public to set up enjoyable miniature parks within metered parking spaces.

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

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