Etymologically
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incino

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈɪŋ.kɪ.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈin̠ʲ.t͡ʃi.no][1]

Forms

incinō (present infinitive incinere, perfect active incinuī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1] An inscription has the infinitive incanere.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin in- + canō (“to sing”).[2][3][4] De Vaan traces canō to Proto-Italic *kan-e(je)- and Proto-Indo-European *kh₂n-e- (“to sing”), noting that scholars do not agree on the form of the Indo-European root.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first example in Georges and Conte is Varro's cum signa incinuērunt, “when the signals have sounded”.[6][7][3]

Semantic evolution

It is a rare word, not used by Cicero.[8] Intransitively it is to sound or to play an instrument: Gellius uses it of a piper playing gentle measures.[6][8] Transitively it is to strike up or sing a tune: Propertius writes of someone who sings variōs … ōre modōs, “varied tunes with his mouth”,[8][3] Gellius of the measures and trills a piper plays,[6][3] and Symmachus of playing a song on the pipes.[3][7] A verse epitaph says of a musician that he used to play and sing skilfully.[3]

The TLL derives incentīvus and incentor from it.[3] Etymonline explains English incentive from Late Latin ⟨incentivum⟩, the neuter of incentīvus “setting the tune”, from the past participle stem of incinō.[9]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of signals sounding.[3][6][10]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius uses it of singing tunes.[3][8][10]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of a piper.[3][8][10]
  • c. 340–402 AD – Symmachus uses it of playing a song on pipes.[3][7][10]
  • early 15th century – English has incentive, from a Late Latin derivative.[9]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive) To sound, ring out; to play (on a musical instrument).[2][6][7]
  2. (transitive) To play or sing (a tune), to strike up.[2][8][11]

Word family

  • incentīvus

References

  1. ^ a b c 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 h i j k l Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ Bianchi, Rossella; Lelli, Olga (2014), VOLI: Vocabolario di latino, Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  11. ^ Lewis, Charlton T. (1890), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: American Book Company