initiation rite

noun

plural initiation rites

: an act or ritual that a person must perform in order to be officially recognized as having joined a group or organization or as having achieved a new status (such as adulthood)

It's an initiation rite performed whenever a ship crosses the equator; sailors who have not yet crossed that line … undergo a hazing ritual conducted by those who have ….

—Jamie Malanowski

The plumes of some of the birds are of great value to New Guineans. The most prominent plumes are worn in traditional headdresses during "sing-sings"—festivals related to feast days, initiations rites or marriage ceremonies.

—Bruce Beehler

In a booze-sodden initiation rite, his Phi Kappa Psi brothers allegedly forced him to down more than half a bottle of rum …

—Colleen O'Connor et al.

compare rite of passage

Examples of initiation rite in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Nynaeve’s trip into a heart-wrenching alternate reality via the magical Arches used as an initiation rite by the Aes Sedai; Egwene’s breaking by and escape from the Seanchan; Rand’s romance with Lanfear and bromance with Ishamael, two suave and seductive villains. —Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2025

Why one teen broke with the brotherhood - After initiation rites – including circumcision – the boys leave their families to take charge of the herds, driving them high into the mountains. —Marc Silver, NPR, 27 Dec. 2024

About 83% of Sierra Leonean women aged 15 and over have undergone FGM, according to Unicef estimates from 2023, typically during an initiation rite into the all-women Bondo Society, which prepares girls for adulthood. —Harriet Marsden, theweek, 13 Feb. 2024

Paris was on the young side – 11 years old – when the initiation rites for the current generation of morans got started in 2019. —Nurith Aizenman, NPR, 12 May 2024

Franklin famously avoided air conditioning while touring, seeking to protect her voice, and Smith’s sweaty reaction was like an initiation rite. —Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press, 10 Mar. 2024

These more coherent processes involve initiation rites, manifestos, leaders, and a chain of command that guide beliefs and actions. —Cynthia Miller-Idriss, Foreign Affairs, 3 Jan. 2022

Locker Room Culture Locker rooms have long been the setting for initiation rites that can cross a line into hazing. —Billy Witz, New York Times, 28 July 2023

The process is anxiety provoking and enthralling—a medical school initiation rite with almost religious overtones. —National Geographic, 13 Jan. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1807, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for initiation rite

• granodiorite
• keratinocyte
• microsatellite
• montmorillonite
• reticulocyte
• acolyte
• aconite
• allanite
• alunite
• amberlite
• ammonite
• amorite