incitus Latin · revision 33519

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=96–55 BC, Lucretius|origins=ine-pro *(ḱ)ei(h₂)-}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''incitus''' (feminine incita, neuter incitum)^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la|*incieō]], its participle, a compound of [[m|la|in-]] and [[m|la|cieō|t=to set in motion]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) De Vaan traces [[m|la|cieō]] to [[itc-pro|*ki-eje-]], with the participle [[m|itc-pro|*kito-|t=stirred]], and to [[ine-pro|*(ḱ)ei(h₂)-|t=to start to move]].^(de Vaan 2008) Cognate with [[grc|ἔκιε|tr=ékie|t=started to move]] and [[m|grc|κίνυμαι|tr=kínumai|t=to be moved]].^(de Vaan 2008) A late grammarian notes that it could be pronounced with a short or a long ⟨i⟩.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan records it from Lucretius onward,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who writes of seas that boil, ''graviter spīrantibus incita flābrīs'', “driven by violently blowing winds”.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a poetic word:^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) the TLL lists it in Lucretius, Virgil, Seneca and Valerius Flaccus, perhaps also in Accius.^(TLL) It means set in rapid or violent motion, rushing, headlong: Lucretius uses it of the force of the wind, Cicero's verse of swift dolphins, Virgil of a spear, and Silius Italicus of a stone.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(OLD 2012) It also means roused or excited in feeling.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of wind and stormy seas.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero's verse has ''incitī atque alacrēs dēlphīnī''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of a spear.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 25–101 AD – Silius Italicus uses it of a stone.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Set in rapid or violent motion; [[m|en|swift]], rushing, [[m|en|headlong]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Stirred, roused, [[m|en|excited]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cieō]]

+ * [[citus]]

+ * [[incitō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate ''incitus'' “unmoved”, from the negative ''in-'' and ''citus'', is explained by Isidore: game pieces that cannot be moved are called ''incitī'', and so are needy people with no hope of getting further.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL) From it comes the feminine plural ''incitae'' “checkmate”, recorded from Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder also has a fourth-declension noun ''incitus'', “rapid motion”, in ''adsiduō mundī incitū''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}