Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “incentive” come from?

Incentive comes from Latin incentivus, formed from the prefix in- and the suffix -ivus, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European ne and h₁én.

incentive (English): Something that motivates, rouses, or encourages;...

Definitions

  1. Something that motivates, rouses, or encourages;...

Ancestry of “incentive”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Medieval Latinincentivusthat strikes up or sets the tune; that strikes...
2Latinincinerepresent active infinitive of incinō; to strike up
3Latincanerepresent active infinitive of canō; second-person...
4LatincaneoI am white, gray or hoary
5Latin-eoForms stative verbs from adjectives; dative...
6Proto-Italic-ēōForms stative verbs, indicating a state of being;...
7Proto-Italic-ējō—
8Proto-Indo-European-éh₁yetiThematicization of the athematic stative verbal...
9Proto-Indo-European-yetiCreates transitive imperfective verbs from roots

Words derived from “incentive”

  • disincentive
  • incentivize
  • incentivise
  • incentivization
  • counterincentive
  • incentively
  • incentiveless
  • incentify
  • misincentive
  • eco-incentive
  • reincentivize
  • disincentivization
  • incentief
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yeti →