incentive

American  

[in-sen-tiv] / ɪnˈsɛn tɪv /

noun

1. something that incites or tends to incite to action or greater effort, as a reward offered for increased productivity.

   Synonyms:

   prod, goad, encouragement, impulse, incitement, spur, stimulus

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adjective

1. inciting, as to action; stimulating; provocative.

incentive British  

/ ɪnˈsɛntɪv /

noun

1. a motivating influence; stimulus

2. 1. an additional payment made to employees as a means of increasing production

   2. ( as modifier )

      an incentive scheme

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adjective

1. serving to incite to action

Related Words

See motive.

Other Word Forms

• counterincentive noun
• incentively adverb
• nonincentive adjective
• preincentive noun
• superincentive noun

Etymology

Origin of incentive

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Late Latin incentīvus “provocative,” in Latin: “setting the tune,” from incent(us) “played” (past participle of incinere “to play (an instrument, tunes),” from in- in- ² + -cinere, combining form of canere “to sing”) + -īvus -ive

Example Sentences

“The scrapping of incentives no doubt impacted Tesla, but at least it does not have to worry about BYD in its own backyard yet,” Blokland said.

From Los Angeles Times

The pilot program differed from past state rebates and tax credits for electric cars in that applicants didn’t have to first purchase an e-bike to get the incentive.

From Los Angeles Times

But starting March 5, customer accounts in those regions will be in withdrawal-only mode, and creation of new accounts and incentive programs will be disabled.

From Barron's

But that law was also written to retain incentives for capital investment.

From The Wall Street Journal

But post-production workers say the incentive program doesn’t do enough to retain jobs in California because it only covers their work if 75% of filming or overall budget is spent in the state.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• encouragement
• enticement
• impetus
• motivation
• reason
• stimulus