uninitiated en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ʌnɪnˈɪʃi.eɪtɪd/ (UK)
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English initiated English uninitiated From un- + initiated.
Meanings
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(not-comparable) Not having been initiated; not having the special knowledge of a particular group.
Even in the midst of the full swing of fancy, swayed to and fro by the many currants of thought that arise out of a single word, snatches of the verse from which the flight was taken will suddenly appear on the surface like a refrain or a keynote, showing that in reality there is a connexion, though hidden to the uninitiated.
1863, Sir William Smith, editor, A Dictionary of the Bible: Comprising its Antiquities, Biography, Geography and Natural History, Volume III. Red Sea-Zuzims, Little, Brown, and Co, Versions, Ancient (Targum), pages 1653–1654:Although the priests are the initiated, they remain ignorant and incapable of instructing the uninitiated in the proper method of painting the temples.
2008, David E. Johnson, Anthropology's Wake: Attending to the End of Culture, Fordham University Press, →ISBN, Ex-Cited Dialogue, page 107:His jargon-filled talk was gibberish to uninitiated listeners, but it was clear and concise to practitioners.
A quick guide for the uninitiated
1962 January 14, “Tape recorders: A quick guide for the uninitiated”, in Herbet L. Brown Jr, editor, Changing Times: The Kiplinger Magazine, volume 16, number 1, Kiplinger Washington Editors, →ISSN, page 13:To the uninitiated, the belief not merely in the influence of the dead, but in their actual presence during secret rites is, or has until lately been, very real, and in so far as the uninitiated are brought into relation with the societies will possess a religious character.
1914, William Halse Rivers Rivers, The History of Melanesian Society, volume 2, Part 1, Adegi Graphics, published 2001, →ISBN, Chapter XXXIII. Religion and Magic, page 411: