ab initio
Contents
EnglishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Latin ab (“from”) + initiō, ablative singular of initium (“beginning”).
PronunciationEdit
AdverbEdit
- (law) From the time when a legal document comes into force. [Early 17th century.][1]
- (sciences) Calculated from first principles, i.e. from basic laws without any further additional assumptions.
- 1983, Monty Python, The meaning of life, at about 1h 15':
- […] this soul does not exist ab initio, as orthodox Christianity teaches; it has to be brought into existence by a process of guided self-observation. However, this is rarely achieved, owing to man's unique ability to be distracted from spiritual matters by everyday trivia.
- 1983, Monty Python, The meaning of life, at about 1h 15':
- (of an academic course) Taken with no prior qualifications.
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
referring to the time from when a legal document comes into force
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calculated from first principles, i.e. from basic laws without any further additional assumptions
taken with no prior qualifications
ReferencesEdit
- ^ “ab initio” in Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief; William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0-19-860457-0, page 4.