ab initio
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin ab (“from”) + initiō, ablative singular of initium (“beginning”).
Pronunciation
- (US) IPA(key): /ˌæb ɪˈnɪʃ.i.oʊ/, /ˌæb əˈnɪt.i.oʊ/, /ˌɑb əˈnɪt.i.oʊ/
Adverb
ab initio
- (law) From the time when a law, legal right or decree, contract, ownership interest, partnership (etc.) comes into force. [Early 17th century.][1][2][3]
- As the Act was passed without the required quorum, the constitutional court struck down the Act and declared it to be void ab initio
- 2007, Parliament of India, “Section 14”, in Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006[1], page 4:
- Any child marriage solemnised in contravention of an injunction order issued under section 13, whether interim or final, shall be void ab initio.
- (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.
Translations
referring to the time from when a legal document comes into force
calculated from first principles, i.e. from basic laws without any further additional assumptions
taken with no prior qualifications
References
- ^ http://karnatakajudiciary.kar.nic.in/hcklibrary/PDF/Blacks%20Law%206th%20Edition%20-%20SecA.pdf Black's Law Dictionary, 6th Edition (1990) Ab initio: Lat. From the beginning; from the first act; from the inception. An agreement is said to be "void ab initio" if it has at no time had any legal validity. A party may be said to be a trespasser, an estate said to be good, an agreement or deed said to be void, or a marriage or act said to be unlawful, ab initio. Contrasted in this sense with ex post facto, or with postea.
- ^ Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “ab initio”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 4.
- ^ Black's Law Dictionary
German
Alternative forms
- a. i., ab in., ab init. (abbreviation)
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin ab initiō (“from the beginning”).
Pronunciation
Adverb
ab initio
References
- “ab initio” in Duden online
Indonesian
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin ab initiō (“from the beginning”).
Adverb
Further reading
- “ab initio”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016
Spanish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from Latin ab initiō (“from the beginning”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˌab iˈnitjo/ [ˌaβ̞ iˈni.t̪jo]
- Syllabification: ab i‧ni‧tio
Adverb
Usage notes
According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.
Further reading
- “ab initio”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
- “ab initio”, in Diccionario panhispánico de dudas [Panhispanic Dictionary of Doubts] (in Spanish), 2nd edition, Royal Spanish Academy; Association of Academies of the Spanish Language, 2023, →ISBN