English
incite
Incite comes from Latin incitō ‘to set in motion, hasten, urge, incite’, from cieō ‘to rouse, excite, call’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keyh₂- ‘to move’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keyh₂-‘to move’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kieō‘to stir’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcieō‘to rouse, excite, call’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcitō‘to set in motion, urge’frequentative of cieō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEincitō‘to set in motion, hasten, urge, incite’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600inciter
- Englishearliest quotation 2018incite
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keyh₂-‘to move’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kieō‘to stir’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcieō‘to rouse, excite, call’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcitō‘to set in motion, urge’frequentative of cieō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEincitō‘to set in motion, hasten, urge, incite’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600inciter
- Englishearliest quotation 2018incite
Earliest quotation: 2018, Paul Mozur, A Genocide Incited on Facebook, With Posts From Myanmar’s Mi: “Human rights groups blame the anti-Rohingya propaganda for inciting…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *keyh₂- ‘to move’
kinetic, kinase, cytokine, kinematics, cine, kine, 10 more
through Latin cieō ‘to rouse, excite, call’
excitation, recitation, 4 more
through Latin citō ‘to set in motion, urge’
Today it means
verb To call into action.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *keyh₂- / incite