Circa 1600, from Latin, literally "from the beginning", from ablative case of initium "entrance", "beginning", related to verb inire "to go into", "enter upon", "begin".[2]
Usesedit
Ab initio (abbreviation: ab init.) is used in several contexts, including the following:
Lawedit
In law, ab initio refers to something being the case from the start or from the instant of the act rather than from when the court declared it so. For instance, the term "void ab initio" means "to be treated as invalid from the outset." E.g., in many jurisdictions, if a person signs a contract under duress, that contract is treated as being "void ab initio".
Typically, documents or acts which are voidab initio cannot be fixed and if a jurisdiction, a document, or an act is so declared at law to be void ab initio, the parties are returned to their respective positions that they were at the beginning of the event.
"Void ab initio" is often contrasted with "voidable" in futuro, such documents which become void only as of the date of a certain event or of the judicial declaration to that effect. For example, termination of a contract only operates in futuro.
An insurer facing a claim from an insured who had deceived the insurer on a material fact would claim that the insurance contract was void ab initio; it was null and void from the beginning and that since there was no legally enforceable contract, the insurer ought not to have to pay.[3]
Science and engineeringedit
In general, a calculation is said to be ab initio (or "from first principles") if it relies on basic and established laws of nature without additional assumptions or special models.
For example, an ab initio calculation of the properties of liquid water might start with the properties of the constituent hydrogen and oxygen atoms and the laws of electrostatics and quantum mechanics. From these basics, the properties of isolated individual water molecules would be derived, followed by computations of the interactions of larger and larger groups of water molecules, until the bulk properties of water had been determined. This in contrast to an approach that uses approximations (which could allow for easier computations) that have no direct link to these first principles.
Documentation of a process is said to be ab initio (or from scratch, or from the ground up) if the documentation shows how to set up and complete the process from basic materials (to which a competent practitioner is expected to have access) without prior special preparation.
In biophysics, this refers to a method for the prediction of protein structures in protein folding.
In bioinformatics, ab initio (or de novo) methods make predictions about biological features using only a computational model without extrinsic comparison to existing data.
In aviation, this refers to the first stage of flight training.
Other usesedit
In literature, a story told ab initio is told from the beginning; Horace called this method ab ovo ('from the egg'). This is as opposed to in medias res (in the middle of the story).
In learning a subject or foreign language, ab initio refers to study without previous knowledge or assumptions.
^"Etymology for ab initio". etymonline.com. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
^. duhaime.org. Archived from the original on 14 February 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
External linksedit
Look up ab initio in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Definition at Dictionary.com 2012-10-25 at the Wayback Machine
February 16, 2024
initio, other, uses, disambiguation, latin, term, meaning, from, beginning, derived, from, latin, from, initio, ablative, singular, initium, beginning, contents, etymology, uses, science, engineering, other, uses, also, references, external, linksetymology, ed. For other uses see Ab initio disambiguation Ab initio ˌ ae b ɪ ˈ n ɪ ʃ i oʊ AB in ISH ee oh 1 is a Latin term meaning from the beginning and is derived from the Latin ab from initio ablative singular of initium beginning Contents 1 Etymology 2 Uses 2 1 Law 2 2 Science and engineering 2 3 Other uses 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksEtymology editCirca 1600 from Latin literally from the beginning from ablative case of initium entrance beginning related to verb inire to go into enter upon begin 2 Uses editAb initio abbreviation ab init is used in several contexts including the following Law edit In law ab initio refers to something being the case from the start or from the instant of the act rather than from when the court declared it so For instance the term void ab initio means to be treated as invalid from the outset E g in many jurisdictions if a person signs a contract under duress that contract is treated as being void ab initio Typically documents or acts which are void ab initio cannot be fixed and if a jurisdiction a document or an act is so declared at law to be void ab initio the parties are returned to their respective positions that they were at the beginning of the event Void ab initio is often contrasted with voidable in futuro such documents which become void only as of the date of a certain event or of the judicial declaration to that effect For example termination of a contract only operates in futuro An insurer facing a claim from an insured who had deceived the insurer on a material fact would claim that the insurance contract was void ab initio it was null and void from the beginning and that since there was no legally enforceable contract the insurer ought not to have to pay 3 Science and engineering edit In general a calculation is said to be ab initio or from first principles if it relies on basic and established laws of nature without additional assumptions or special models For example an ab initio calculation of the properties of liquid water might start with the properties of the constituent hydrogen and oxygen atoms and the laws of electrostatics and quantum mechanics From these basics the properties of isolated individual water molecules would be derived followed by computations of the interactions of larger and larger groups of water molecules until the bulk properties of water had been determined This in contrast to an approach that uses approximations which could allow for easier computations that have no direct link to these first principles Documentation of a process is said to be ab initio or from scratch or from the ground up if the documentation shows how to set up and complete the process from basic materials to which a competent practitioner is expected to have access without prior special preparation In nuclear physics the mass energy of different nuclei can be determined with ab initio methods by solving the Schrodinger equation over all particles Likewise in chemistry this refers to ab initio quantum chemistry methods In biophysics this refers to a method for the prediction of protein structures in protein folding In bioinformatics ab initio or de novo methods make predictions about biological features using only a computational model without extrinsic comparison to existing data In aviation this refers to the first stage of flight training Other uses edit In literature a story told ab initio is told from the beginning Horace called this method ab ovo from the egg This is as opposed to in medias res in the middle of the story In learning a subject or foreign language ab initio refers to study without previous knowledge or assumptions See also edit nbsp Law portalA priori Abatement ab initio Ad fontes List of legal Latin termsReferences edit Merriam Webster s Collegiate Dictionary Etymology for ab initio etymonline com Retrieved 7 February 2010 Legal definition at Duhaime org duhaime org Archived from the original on 14 February 2010 Retrieved 7 February 2010 External links edit nbsp Look up ab initio in Wiktionary the free dictionary Definition at Dictionary com Archived 2012 10 25 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ab initio amp oldid 1194821230, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
