Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “incumbent” come from?

Incumbent comes from Latin incumbens, the present participle of incumbo, meaning to lie or lean upon, formed from the prefix in- and cubo, to lie down.

incumbent (English): Imposed on someone as an obligation, especially...

Definitions

  1. Imposed on someone as an obligation, especially...

Ancestry of “incumbent”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinincumbentthird-person plural future active indicative of...
2Latinincumbensreclining
3LatinincumboI lay oneself upon; I lean or recline on...
4Latinīn-—
5Latinîn—
6Latinenlookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ
7Proto-Italicenin
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₁énin

Words derived from “incumbent”

  • incumbency
  • nonincumbent
  • superincumbency
  • incumbently
  • incumbentess
  • subincumbent
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₁én →