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incitatus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word incitatus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (cieō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin cito
Latin incito
Latin incitatus
Latin incitamentum
Latin excito
Latin suscito
Latin concito
Latin concitatus
Latin recito
Latin recitatio

Forms

incitātus (feminine incitāta, neuter incitātum; comparative incitātior, superlative incitātissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

Used as an adjective, it is the past participle from Latin incitō (“to set in rapid motion, rouse”).[1][2][3] incitō is formed from in- and citō (“to set in motion”), which de Vaan derives from cieō (“to stir”) and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(ḱ)ei(h₂)- (“to start to move”).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero.[3] Cicero speaks of the turbulent movements and violent agitations of the mind.[1]

Semantic evolution

It is fast-moving, rushing: Seneca writes that a comet burns the more, the faster the wind.[1] Of people it is excited or excitable: Asinius Pollio writes to Cicero that he only just held back a legion stirred up to the highest degree.[1] Of emotions and pain it is violent or intense, and of style or action marked by vigour: Cicero says that an orator had nothing grand or vigorous in his diction.[1]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of violent emotions and of a style without vigour.[1][3]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of a fast wind.[1][3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Fast-moving, rapid, rushing.[1][2]
  2. Of people, excited, roused; excitable, passionate.[1]
  3. Of emotions or pain, violent, intense; of style or action, marked by vehemence.[1]

Usage notes

Lewis & Short also record a noun incitātus, -ūs, rapid motion, as a manuscript reading in Pliny the Elder for incitus.[2][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Cite this entry

“Incitatus.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/incitatus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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