incipit

[ in-si-pit; Latin ing-ki-pit ]

noun

the introductory words or opening phrases in the text of a medieval manuscript or an early printed book.
Music. the first words of a chanted liturgical text, as that of a Gregorian chant or certain medieval motets.

Origin of incipit

1895–1900; <Latin: (here) begins, 3rd singular present indicative of incipere

Words Nearby incipit

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use incipit in a sentence

I am read by journalists, by my fellow-novelists, and by boys; with these, incipit et explicit my vogue.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25) | Robert Louis Stevenson
She got up early the next morning, and wrote in her diary, "incipit vita nova!"
The Devourers | Annie Vivanti Chartres
Inprimis incipit a loco ubi Gernesheim marcha adjungitur ad Hephenheim marcham,' &c.
The English Village Community | Frederic Seebohm
incipit libellus de ludo Scaccorum, et de dictis factisque nobilium virorum, philosophorum et antiquorum.
Game and Playe of the Chesse | Caxton
Apicii Celii epimeles incipit liber primus conditum paradoxum.
Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome | Apicius

British Dictionary definitions for incipit

incipit

/ Latin (ˈɪnkɪpɪt) /

here begins: used as an introductory word at the beginning of some medieval manuscripts

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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