inaugurate

English
WOTD – 20 January 2025

Etymology 1
PIE word
*h₁én
Barack Obama being inaugurated (sense 1) as the 44th president of the United States on January 20, 2009. He is pictured taking the oath of office before John Roberts, the Chief Justice of the United States (back to camera), with Michelle Obama (right) in attendance.

Either:

  • borrowed from French inaugurer (“to inaugurate”), from Latin inaugurāre, the present active infinitive of inaugurō (“to take omens from the flight of birds, to divine, practise augury; to approve, consecrate, or inaugurate on the basis of omens; to install”); or
  • a learned borrowing from Latin inaugurātus (“having been taken as an omen, divined; having been approved, consecrated, or inaugurated on the basis of omens; installed, having been installed”), the perfect passive participle of inaugurō;[1]

+ English -ate (suffix meaning ‘to act in [the manner denoted by the word it is attached to]’). Inaugurō is derived from in- (prefix meaning ‘against; into; on, upon; to, towards’) + augurō (“to act as an augur, interpret omens, augur; to foretell, predict; to conjecture, guess”) (from augur (“soothsayer, augur”) (further etymology uncertain; see the entry) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɪˈnɔːɡjʊɹeɪt/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ɪˈnɔɡəˌɹeɪt/
  • (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ɪˈnɑɡəˌɹeɪt/
  • Hyphenation: in‧au‧gur‧ate

Verb

inaugurate (third-person singular simple present inaugurates, present participle inaugurating, simple past and past participle inaugurated) (transitive)

  1. To induct (someone) into a dignity or office with a formal ceremony.
    Synonym: (obsolete) inaugur
  2. To dedicate (something, as a building or a monument) for public access or use with a formal ceremony.
    • 2008 February 21, “Solar energy: The power of concentration: A new type of power plant harnesses the sun—and taxpayers”, in The Economist‎, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-05-03:
      On February 22nd, at an event featuring film stars, astronauts and technology gurus, Acciona, a Spanish conglomerate, is due to inaugurate a new power plant a few miles from Las Vegas.
  3. To initiate or usher in (something, as a (significant) course of action, development, organization, or period of time) with a formal ceremony or in a ceremonious manner; also (loosely), to begin or commence (something); to start.
    Synonym: handsel
    • 1850, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “A Sabbath Morning at Sea”, in Poems. […], new edition, volume II, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, stanza V, page 326:
      The sun!—he came up to be viewed; / And sky and sea made mighty room / To inaugurate the vision!
    • 1865, David Livingstone, Charles Livingstone, chapter XXI, in Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries; and of the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa. 1858–1864, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 428:
      Had Mr. Sunley performed the same experiment on the mainland, where people would have flocked to him for the wages he now gives, he would certainly have inaugurated a new era on the East Coast of Africa.
  4. (archaic, rare) To cause (something) to be auspicious or good-omened; also, to declare or make (something) holy; to consecrate, to sanctify.
    (cause to be auspicious): Synonym: auspicate
    (declare or make holy): Synonyms: see Thesaurus:consecrate
    (declare or make holy): Antonyms: see Thesaurus:desecrate
    • a. 1639 (date written), Henry Wotton, “A View of the Life and Death of Geo[rge] Villiers, Duke of Buckingham”, in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. Or, A Collection of Lives, Letters, Poems; […], London: […] Thomas Maxey, for R[ichard] Marriot, G[abriel] Bedel, and T[imothy] Garthwait, published 1651, →OCLC, page 79:
      About Nevvyeers-tide after his return from thence (for thoſe beginnings of years vvere very propitious unto him, as if Kings did chuſe remarkable dayes to inaugurate their favours, that they may appeare acts aſvvell of the Times, as of the VVill) he vvas Created Marqueſs of Buckingham, and made Lord Admirall of England, […]
    • 1897 February 2, P[eter] le Page Renouf, “Book of the Dead. [Chapter CXXX. A Book whereby the Soul is Made to Live for ever, on the Day of Entering into the Bark of Rā, and to Pass the Sheniu of the Tuat. Made on the Birthday of Osiris.]”, in Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, volume XIX, part 2, London: […] Society [of Biblical Archaeology], […], →OCLC, page 67:
      The Osiris N inaugurateth the paths of Rā and prayeth that he may drive off the Lock which cometh out of the flame against thy Bark out of the great Stream.
Conjugation
Conjugation of inaugurate
infinitive (to) inaugurate
present tense past tense
1st-person singular inaugurate inaugurated
2nd-person singular inaugurate, inauguratest† inaugurated, inauguratedst†
3rd-person singular inaugurates, inaugurateth† inaugurated
plural inaugurate
subjunctive inaugurate inaugurated
imperative inaugurate —
participles inaugurating inaugurated

†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms
Translations
to begin or commence (something) — see begin,‎ commence,‎ start
to declare or make (something) holy — see consecrate,‎ sanctify

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin inaugurātus (“having been taken as an omen, divined; having been approved, consecrated, or inaugurated on the basis of omens; installed, having been installed”) (the perfect passive participle of inaugurō (verb): see etymology 1)[2] + English -ate (suffix meaning ‘characterized by [the thing denoted by the word it is attached to]’).

Pronunciation

Adjective

inaugurate (not comparable)

  1. (obsolete) Inducted into a dignity or office with a formal ceremony or in a ceremonious manner; inaugurated.
    • 1644, Henry Hammond, “Sermon IX. Being an Easter Sermon at St. Mary’s in Oxford, a.d. 1644. The Blessing Influence of Christ’s Resurrection.”, in Thirty-one Sermons Preached on Several Occasions (Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology; 21), part I, Oxford, Oxfordshire: John Henry Parker, published 1849, →OCLC, page 188:
      [T]he raising up of Jesus, signifies the new state, to which Christ was inaugurate at His resurrection, and contains under it all the severals of ascension, of sitting at the right hand of power, of the mission of the Holy Ghost, and His powerful intercession for us in heaven ever since, and to the end of the world; […]

References
  1. Compare “inaugurate, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2024; “inaugurate, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. “inaugurate, adj.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023.

Further reading

Italian

Verb

inaugurate

  1. inflection of inaugurare:
    1. second-person plural present indicative
    2. second-person plural imperative
  2. feminine plural of inaugurato, past participle of inaugurare

Latin

Participle

inaugurāte

  1. vocative masculine singular of inaugurātus

Spanish

Verb

inaugurate

  1. second-person singular voseo imperative of inaugurar combined with te
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