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INITIAL

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | Copyright

INITIAL, also initial letter, point.
1. The first LETTER of a WORD, usually capitalized in a proper NAME: the L of London, the G, B, S of George Bernard Shaw. The practice of using initials or POINTS in handwriting and print has encouraged the growth of such ABBREVIATIONS as symbols, formulas, INITIALISMS, and ACRONYMS: for example, a stands, among others, for acre and are (units of land measurement); e.g. stands for LATIN exempli gratia for the sake of an example; BBC for British Broadcasting Corporation; NATO for North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

2. The large ornamental letter at the start of a page or chapter, especially in an illuminated manuscript.

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TOM McARTHUR. "INITIAL." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 9 Feb. 2010 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "INITIAL." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (February 9, 2010). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-INITIAL.html

TOM McARTHUR. "INITIAL." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved February 09, 2010 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-INITIAL.html

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