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
- Something that motivates, rouses, or encourages;...
Ancestry of “incentive”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medieval Latin | incentivus | that strikes up or sets the tune; that strikes... |
| 2 | Latin | incinere | present active infinitive of incinō; to strike up |
| 3 | Latin | canere | present active infinitive of canō; second-person... |
| 4 | Latin | caneo | I am white, gray or hoary |
| 5 | Latin | -eo | Forms stative verbs from adjectives; dative... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -ēō | Forms stative verbs, indicating a state of being;... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -ējō | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -éh₁yeti | Thematicization of the athematic stative verbal... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -yeti | Creates transitive imperfective verbs from roots |