Meanings
plural incitations
- countableuncountableThe act of inciting or moving to action.
- countableobsoleteuncountableSomething that incites to action; a stimulus or incentive.
A notable man, great in yeares, in name, in dignity and in learning, vaunted himselfe unto me, that he was induced to a certaine most important change of his religion, by a strange and fantastical incitation[…].
1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 29, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
nounsomething that incites or provokes; a means of arousing or stirring to action
nounan act of urging on or spurring on or rousing to action or instigating
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Frenchincitation
- Middle Frenchincitation
- Englishincitation
Borrowed from Middle French incitation.
More words from Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French incitation
- incitationact of inciting or moving to action
Irish spreagthacht
- spreagthachtact of inciting or moving to action
Portuguese incitação
- incitaçãoact of inciting or moving to action
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with incitation
Cite this entry
incitation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incitation
“incitation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incitation. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “incitation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incitation.
Source: incitation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.