something that incites or tends to incite to action or greater effort, as a reward offered for increased productivity.
adjective
inciting, as to action; stimulating; provocative.
Origin of incentive
1400–50; late Middle English <Late Latin incentīvus provocative, Latin: setting the tune, equivalent to incent(us) (past participle of incinere to play (an instrument, tunes); in-in-2 + -cinere, combining form of canere to sing) + -īvus-ive
China’s reliance on foreign semiconductors is both a major incentive for and hinderance to achieving that goal.
China will spend $300 billion on semiconductor imports as U.S. squeezes chip supply|eamonbarrett|August 27, 2020|Fortune
In their 2005 best-selling book Freakonomics, two authors explained how economics are a powerful incentive on human behavior.
Sacramento may pay COVID-infected workers $1000 to stay home|Jeff|August 26, 2020|Fortune
Smaller chains and independent theaters will also be reopening, but discounts and other incentives are scarcer.
Are these big discounts enough to get you back into a movie theater?|dzanemorris|August 20, 2020|Fortune
They argue that the incentives CEOs face have not changed, so their behavior won’t change.
Revisiting the Business Roundtable’s ‘Stakeholder Capitalism,’ one year later|Geoffrey Colvin|August 19, 2020|Fortune
Excerpts of a preliminary legal review of the purchase, leaked to NBC 7, contend that by acting as a middleman in a major real estate transaction, Cisterra didn’t have an incentive to look closely at the building’s true condition.
How the City Came to Lease a Lemon|Lisa Halverstadt and Jesse Marx|August 10, 2020|Voice of San Diego
In addition, because House Democrats were cut out of the negotiations over the bill, they don't feel any incentive to play ball.
Nancy Pelosi Plays Hardball On Cromnibus|Ben Jacobs|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As it stands, candidates do not have much of an incentive to come out in favor of same-sex marriage.
Is Gay Marriage Going Away in 2016?|David Freedlander|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Until scholars and collectors stop buying, antiquities dealers have no incentive to stop selling.
Dismembering History: The Shady Online Trade in Ancient Texts|Candida Moss|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This is an incentive to continue running in the interest of society.
Mexico’s First Lady of Murder Is on the Lam|Michael Daly|October 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Of course, the incentive for the Gingrich team would be not to delete the phony accounts.
Your Fake Followers Are Catfishing You: Bacon Mavens, Newt’s Fake Fans, and Other Social Media Scams|Charles Seife|July 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It has become part of their thought, incentive to their action, source of their energies.
The Nervous Housewife|Abraham Myerson
What a successful man, of marked force of character, has done, may be an incentive and an encouragement to others.
The Bay State Monthly, Vol. II, No. 6, March, 1885|Various
The opportunity and the incentive to emulate increase greatly in scope and urgency.
The Theory of the Leisure Class|Thorstein Veblen
It would not be reasonable to blame Misery or Rushton for not wishing to do good, honest work--there was no incentive.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists|Robert Tressell
It means that the incentive to raise cattle will be destroyed.
The Trail Horde|Charles Alden Seltzer
British Dictionary definitions for incentive
incentive
/ (ɪnˈsɛntɪv) /
noun
a motivating influence; stimulus
an additional payment made to employees as a means of increasing production
(as modifier)an incentive scheme
adjective
serving to incite to action
Derived forms of incentive
incentively, adverb
Word Origin for incentive
C15: from Late Latin incentīvus (adj), from Latin: striking up, setting the tune, from incinere to sing, from in- ² + canere to sing