What is the difference between initialize and initiate?

Solution 1:

They both imply we start something

Initiate:

Cause (a process or action) to begin: "initiate discussions".

Initialize/Initialise:

Set to the value or put in the condition appropriate to the start of an operation.

Also if you initiate something, it is your initiative, whereas if you initialise something, you can have been asked to do so.

In programming, we use the word initialise, when we declare a variable and give it an initial value

Solution 2:

Initiate means to start something, and there is often (though not always) an implication that this is something new, that has never been done before.

Initialize means to set a system to a starting state. This may be one step (or even the only step) in initiating the system.