This is the 4462nd most frequent French word.
initial
The French word "initial" means "original" or "first."
Here the word 'initiale' is used as an adjective to describe the 'idea', indicating it is the original or starting point idea.
L'idée initiale était de partir tôt.
The initial idea was to leave early.
In this sentence, 'initiales' is an adjective modifying 'formes', referring to the original state or condition of the files.
Nous avons sauvegardé nos fichiers sous leurs formes initiales.
We saved our files in their initial forms.
Here, 'initiale' acts as a noun indicating the first letter of her name, as used in inscriptions or monograms.