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incentive

 - 4 dictionary results

in⋅cen⋅tive

  [in-sen-tiv]
Use incentive in a Sentence
–noun
1. something that incites or tends to incite to action or greater effort, as a reward offered for increased productivity.
–adjective
2. inciting, as to action; stimulating; provocative.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME < LL incentīvus provocative, L: setting the tune, equiv. to incent(us) (ptp. of incinere to play (an instrument, tunes); in- in- 2 + -cinere, comb. form of canere to sing) + -īvus -ive

Related forms:
in⋅cen⋅tive⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. stimulus, spur, incitement, impulse, encouragement; goad, prod. See motive.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To incentive
in·cen·tive   (ĭn-sěn'tĭv)   
n.  Something, such as the fear of punishment or the expectation of reward, that induces action or motivates effort.
adj.  Serving to induce or motivate: an incentive bonus for high productivity.

[Middle English, from Late Latin incentīvum, from neuter of incentīvus, inciting, from Latin, setting the tune, from incentus, past participle of incinere, to sound : in-, intensive pref.; see in-2 + canere, to sing; see kan- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
incentive

  1. n.
    cocaine. (Drugs. See also initiative.) : Maybe a little of that incentive would make me work harder.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

incentive 
1432, from L.L. incentivum, noun use of neut. L. adj. incentivus "setting the tune" (in L.L. "inciting"), from stem of incinere "strike up," from in- "in, into" + canere "sing" (see chant). Sense infl. by association with incendere "to kindle." The adj. use, in ref. to a system of rewards meant to encourage harder work, first attested 1943 in jargon of the U.S. war economy; as a noun, in this sense, from 1948.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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