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Origin and history of inaugurate

inaugurate(v.)

"induct into office by formal ceremony," c. 1600, a back-formation from inauguration (q.v.) and also from Latin inauguratus, past participle of inaugurare. The etymological sense is "make a formal beginning or induction into office with suitable ceremonies" (which in ancient Rome included especially the taking of auguries). The earlier verb in English was augur (1540s). Related: Inaugurated; inaugurating; inaugurator.

also from c. 1600

Entries linking to inaugurate

inauguration(n.)

"ceremonial investiture with office; act of solemnly or formally introducing or setting in motion anything of importance or dignity," 1560s, from French inauguration "installation, consecration," and directly from Late Latin inaugurationem (nominative inauguratio) "consecration," presumably originally "installment under good omens;" noun of action from past-participle stem of inaugurare "take omens from the flight of birds; consecrate or install when omens are favorable," from in- "on, in" (from PIE root *en "in") + augurare "to act as an augur, predict" (see augur (n.)).

INAUGURATIO was in general the ceremony by which the augurs obtained, or endeavoured to obtain, the sanction of the gods to something which had been decreed by man; in particular, however, it was the ceremony by which things or persons were consecrated to the gods .... If the signs observed by the inaugurating priest were thought favourable, the decree of men had the sanction of the gods, and the inauguratio was completed. [William Smith (ed.), "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities," 1842]
*aug-(1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to increase." It might form all or part of: auction; augment; augmentative; augur; August; august; Augustus; author; authoritarian; authorize; auxiliary; auxin; eke (v.); inaugurate; nickname; waist; wax (v.1) "grow bigger or greater."

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit ojas- "strength," vaksayati "cause to grow;" Lithuanian augu, augti "to grow," aukštas "high, of superior rank;" Greek auxo "increase," auxein "to increase;" Gothic aukan "to grow, increase;" Latin augmentum "an increase, growth," augere "to increase, make big, enlarge, enrich;" Old English eacien "to increase," German wachsen, Gothic wahsjan "to grow, increase."

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    introduce
    early 15c., "convey or bring (something) in or into," a back-formation from introduction or else from Latin introducere "to lead in, bring in," from intro- "inward, to the inside" (see intro-) + ducere "to lead" (from PIE root *deuk- "to lead"). Meaning "to bring forward, open to
    reduction
    early 15c., reduccioun, "a restoring to a former state" (a sense now obsolete), also "a conquest or subjugation" (of a people, etc.), from Old French reducion (13c., Modern French réduction) and directly from Latin reductionem (nominative reductio) "a leading back, restoration,"
    commence
    c. 1300, "to start, initiate, cause to begin to be" (transitive), from Old French comencier "to begin, to start" (10c., Modern French commencer), from Vulgar Latin *cominitiare, originally "to initiate as priest, consecrate," from Latin com "with, together" (see com-) + initiare
    begin
    Old English beginnan "to attempt, undertake," a rare word beside the more usual form onginnan (class III strong verb; past tense ongann, past participle ongunnen); from be- + West Germanic *ginnan, which is of obscure etymology and found only in compounds, perhaps "to open, open
    binge
    1854, "drinking bout," also (v.) "drink heavily, soak up alcohol;" dialectal use of binge "soak" (a wooden vessel). Said to have been originally as a dialect word. Binge is noted in Evans' "Leicestershire Words, Phrases and Proverbs" (London, 1848) as a dialect verb for "To soak
    dedicate
    early 15c. (of church buildings) "set apart and consecrate to a deity or a sacred purpose," from Latin dedicatus, past participle of dedicare "consecrate, proclaim, affirm, set apart," from de "away" (see de-) + dicare "proclaim" (from PIE root *deik- "to show," also "pronounce s
    open
    Old English open "not closed down, raised up" (of gates, eyelids, etc.), also "exposed, evident, well-known, public," often in a bad sense, "notorious, shameless;" from Proto-Germanic *upana-, literally "put or set up" (source also of Old Norse opinn, Swedish öppen, Danish aaben,
    peon
    in Spanish America, "unskilled worker," formerly in Mexico especially "a type of serf held in servitude by his creditor until his debts are worked off,"  1826, from Mexican Spanish peon "agricultural laborer" (especially a debtor held in servitude by his creditor), from Span
    pone
    1630s, "American Indian bread," earlier appone, ponap (1610s), from Powhatan (Algonquian) apan "something baked," from apen "she bakes." Later used in Southern U.S. for any type of cornbread, "especially coarse kinds used by the negroes and poorer whites, commonly called corn-pon
    start
    Middle English sterten, "leap, jump, cavort, caper," from Old English *steortian, *stiertan, Kentish variants of styrtan "to leap up" (but the Old English verb is attested only in Northumbrian past participle sturtende), from Proto-Germanic *stert- (source also of Old Frisian ste

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