incentive

See also: Incentive and incentivé

EnglishEdit

English Wikipedia has an article on:

incentive

EtymologyEdit

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”).

PronunciationEdit

IPA^(key): /ɪnˈsɛntɪv/
- Audio (UK) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛntɪv
Hyphenation: in‧cen‧tive

NounEdit

incentive (plural incentives)

Something that motivates, rouses, or encourages.
- 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly‎^[1], 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; […].
I have no incentive to do housework right now.
A bonus or reward, often monetary, to work harder.
Management offered the sales team a $500 incentive for each car sold.

AntonymsEdit

disincentive

Derived termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

→ German: Incentive

TranslationsEdit

something that motivates

Bikol Central: tandan
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)

cash bonus

Bikol Central: tandan
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

AdjectiveEdit

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.