incipio

Forms

incipiō (present infinitive incipere, perfect active incēpī, supine inceptum); third (-iō variant) conjugation^[1] Paulus' epitome of Festus has an archaic incepsit (= incēperit).^[2][3] Late manuscripts sometimes write incoep-.^[4]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin in- + capiō (“to take”), first “to take in hand, lay hold of”.^[2][3][4][1] De Vaan traces capiō to Proto-Italic *kapi- (“to seize”), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂p-i- or a non-Indo-European ⟨*kap-⟩, and compares Ancient Greek κάπτω (káptō, “to gulp down”) and Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍆𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hafjan, “to lift”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has sospes iter incipe hoc, “begin this journey safely”, and incipere multōst quam impetrāre facilius, “starting is much easier than succeeding”.^[2] Köbler dates it from Plautus.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Incipere is first transitive, “to start, embark on” an enterprise, and absolutely “to set to work”.^[2][3] It is used with an infinitive, “to begin to”, and of periods and conditions, “to begin, commence” (Plautus: hic annus incipit vīcēnsimus, “this is the beginning of the twentieth year”).^[2] Later it means to begin with something, to start to extend in space, to originate, and to lead off or come first.^[2] Döderlein sets incipere, a beginning as opposed to rest and to dēsinere, against ōrdīrī, a beginning as opposed to carrying on, and inchoāre, a beginning as opposed to completing.^[7]

Church Latin glosses it “begin, commence”.^[8] The first word of manuscripts, incipit “(here) begins”, became an English word, and English incept (1560s) comes from its participle.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: sospes iter incipe hoc;^[2][6] nēquam sum, utpote quī hodiē amāre incēperim, “I'm worthless, seeing that I've started being in love today”.^[2][6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero mentions Aratus, quī … ā Iove incipiendum putat, “who thinks one should begin with Jupiter”.^[2][6]
• 70–19 BC – Virgil: incipe, Damoeta, “you begin, Damoetas”.^[2][6]
• 1560s – English incept.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To begin, start, take in hand.^[2][3][1][8]
2. To begin to (with infinitive).^[2]
3. To begin, commence (of periods and conditions).^[2][1]
4. To begin (with); to start (in space); to originate (from).^[2]
5. To lead off; to come first.^[2]

Word family

• inceptīvus
• inceptō
• inceptor
• inceptum
• inceptus
• incipissō

Related words

• capiō
• coepī
• incipit

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
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 Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com