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incentive . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
incentive , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
incentive in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
incentive you have here. The definition of the word
incentive will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
incentive , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Medieval Latin incentīvus ( “ that strikes up or sets the tune ” ) , from incinō ( “ to strike up ” ) , from in- ( “ in, on ” ) + canō ( “ to sing ” ) . The formation appears to have been influenced by incendō ( “ to set on fire ” ) .
Pronunciation
IPA (key ) : /ɪnˈsɛntɪv/
Audio (Southern England) (file )
Rhymes: -ɛntɪv
Hyphenation: in‧cen‧tive
Noun
incentive (plural incentives )
Something that motivates , rouses , or encourages .
I have no incentive to do housework right now.
2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly , volume 188 , number 26 , page 36 :It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […].
A bonus or reward , often monetary , to work harder.
Management offered the sales team a $500 incentive for each car sold.
Antonyms
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations
something that motivates
Bikol Central: tandan (bcl)
Bulgarian: подбуда (bg) f ( podbuda ) , стимул (bg) m ( stimul )
Catalan: incentiu (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 刺激 (zh) ( cìjī ) , 誘因 / 诱因 (zh) ( yòuyīn )
Danish: incitament n , gulerod (da) c
Dutch: drijfveer (nl) f , aansporing (nl) , incentief (nl) n , stimulans (nl) m , prikkel (nl) m
Esperanto: stimulo , igilo , motivigo , konvinkilo
Finnish: kannustin (fi) , kannuste (fi) , insentiivi , kiihoke (fi) , virike (fi) , yllyke (fi) , porkkana (fi)
French: intérêt (fr) m , motivation (fr) f
German: Anreiz (de) m , Ansporn (de) m , Incentive (de) n
Greek: κίνητρο (el) n ( kínitro )
Hebrew: תמריץ ( tamritz )
Hungarian: ösztönző (hu) , ösztönzés (hu)
Irish: spreagadh m
Japanese: 動機 (ja) ( どうき, dōki ) , 誘因 (ja) ( ゆういん, yūin ) , 刺激 (ja) ( しげき, shigeki )
Latin: incitāmentum n
Persian: مشوق (fa) ( mošavveq )
Polish: zachęta (pl) f , bodziec (pl) m
Portuguese: incentivo (pt) m , motivação (pt) f
Russian: сти́мул (ru) m ( stímul ) , моти́в (ru) m ( motív ) , мотива́ция (ru) f ( motivácija )
Slovene: motivacija f , spodbuda f
Spanish: incentivo (es) m , aliciente (es)
Swedish: morot (sv) c , incitament (sv) n
Thai: สิ่งจูงใจ (th)
Turkish: teşvik (tr)
Ukrainian: сти́мул m ( stýmul ) , спону́ка f ( sponúka )
cash bonus
Bikol Central: tandan (bcl)
Bulgarian: премия (bg) f ( premija )
Catalan: incentiu (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 獎勵 / 奖励 (zh) ( jiǎnglì ) , 報酬 / 报酬 (zh) ( bàochóu )
Czech: pobídka f
Dutch: bonus (nl) m , premie (nl) f
Finnish: palkkio (fi) , kannustuspalkkio , tulospalkkio , bonus (fi)
French: récompense (fr) f , prime (fr) f
German: Bonus (de) m
Hebrew: תמריץ ( tamritz )
Hungarian: ösztönző (hu)
Indonesian: insentif (id)
Japanese: 報酬 (ja) ( ほうしゅう, hōshū ) , 賞与 (ja) ( しょうよ, shōyo )
Polish: bonus (pl) m , premia (pl) f
Portuguese: incentivo (pt) m
Russian: поощре́ние (ru) n ( pooščrénije ) , пре́мия (ru) f ( prémija ) , бо́нус (ru) m ( bónus ) , вознагражде́ние (ru) n ( voznagraždénije )
Spanish: incentivo (es) m
Turkish: teşvik primi
Ukrainian: заохо́чення n ( zaoxóčennja ) , пре́мія (uk) f ( prémija ) , бо́нус m ( bónus ) , винагоро́да f ( vynahoróda )
Adjective
incentive (comparative more incentive , superlative most incentive )
Inciting; encouraging or moving; rousing to action; stimulating.
1667 , attributed to Richard Allestree , The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety. , London: R. Norton for T. Garthwait, , →OCLC :Competency is of all other proportions the most incentive to industry.
Serving to kindle or set on fire.
1667 , John Milton , “Book VI”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons ], , →OCLC ; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873 , →OCLC :Part incentive reed / Provide, pernicious with one touch of fire.
Further reading
“incentive ”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary , Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam , 1913 , →OCLC .
“incentive ”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co. , 1911 , →OCLC .
Anagrams
Galician
Verb
incentive
inflection of incentivar :
first / third-person singular present subjunctive
third-person singular imperative
Latin
Adjective
incentīve
vocative masculine singular of incentīvus
Portuguese
Verb
incentive
inflection of incentivar :
first / third-person singular present subjunctive
third-person singular imperative
Spanish
Verb
incentive
inflection of incentivar :
first / third-person singular present subjunctive
third-person singular imperative