Other forms: incentives
An incentive is a reward offered to make somebody work harder or act differently. A financial incentive, offer an incentive, no incentive to change.
The economics of it is that people respond to incentives, and the standing problem is that they respond to the actual incentive rather than the intended one — a target for waiting times produces shorter waits and worse recording. Perverse incentive is the technical name for that. Note incentivise, which is disliked and unavoidable; and disincentive, which is the opposite and rather a useful word.
1nounincentiveA reward offered to make somebody act differently.
“The company offers a bonus as an incentive for staff to work harder.”
incentive is a motivating reward.
Latin incentivus meant setting the tune, from incinere, to sound an instrument — in- plus canere, to sing. An incentive was originally something that struck up the music everybody then followed.
Proto-Indo-European
*keh₂n-
Medieval Latin
incentīvus — that strikes up or sets the tune
English, today
incentive
Built from
From Medieval Latin incentīvus (“that strikes up or sets the tune”), from incinō (“to strike up”), from in- (“in, on”) + canō (“to sing”) + -ive. The formation appears to have been influenced by incendō (“to set on fire”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA