incentivus

Forms

incentīvus (feminine incentīva, neuter incentīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin incinō (“to strike up a tune”) + -īvus,^[2][3][1] from in-¹ and canō (“to sing”).^[4] The DMLBS notes that the musical use had died out in Late Latin and that the word was then associated with the stem of incendō (“to set on fire”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Varro, in the De re rustica, calls one pipe of a pair incentiva, the one that plays the tune, and the other succentiva, the one that accompanies it; he then says, figuratively, that the life of herdsmen leads and that of farmers follows.^[2][6][7]

Semantic evolution

From the 4th century it meant that kindles or provokes:^[3] Firmicus Maternus speaks of certain fires that spur us on,^[3] Prudentius of a plague that harries the earth.^[6][3] The neuter incentīvum became a noun, an incitement or stimulus, as in Prudentius' incentive of sin and Jerome's incentives of vice;^[6] an adverb incentīvē is found in Venantius Fortunatus.^[6]

In medieval Latin the adjective meant inflaming or tempting, said of desires,^[5][8] and Du Cange cites the noun from a council of Tortosa of 1429 for unbridled appetite.^[9] English took it as incentive in the early 15th century, from the Late Latin noun.^[4]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of the pipe that plays the tune.^[2][7]
• 343/350 AD – Firmicus Maternus uses the noun of fires that spur us on.^[3][7]
• 348/49–c. 413 AD – Prudentius uses it for provoking, and the noun for an incentive to sin.^[6][3][7]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome writes of the incentives of vice.^[6][7]
• early 15th century – English borrows the noun as incentive.^[4]
• 1429 – A council of Tortosa uses it for unbridled appetite.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of one pipe of a pair: playing the tune, as opposed to the accompanying one (succentīvus).^[2][6]
2. (figurative) Leading, superior.^[6]
3. (Late Latin) That provokes or incites; inflaming, tempting.^[6][3][8][5]

Noun

1. (Late Latin; neuter incentīvum) An incentive, stimulus, incitement.^[6][8]
2. (Medieval Latin) Unbridled appetite, the fire by which the mind is kindled to desire.^[9]

Related words

• English incentive

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre