Word: incentive (noun)

Associations

An incentive is something that motivates or encourages a person to do something. It often refers to a reward or benefit that makes people want to work harder or behave in a certain way.

• A company might offer a bonus as an incentive for employees to meet their sales targets. This means the bonus encourages employees to work harder.
• Governments sometimes give tax incentives to businesses to encourage investment in certain areas.
• Parents might use incentives like extra playtime to motivate children to finish their homework.

A well-known synonym is "motivation." The difference is that "incentive" usually refers to an external reward or reason, while "motivation" can be internal (feelings, desires).

Substitution

You can replace "incentive" with words like:

• reward (focuses on the positive outcome)
• motivation (broader, can be internal or external)
• encouragement (more about support than reward)

Example: "The company gave a reward for good performance" instead of "The company gave an incentive."

Deconstruction

The word "incentive" comes from Latin "incentivum," from "incinere" meaning "to set in motion." It has the prefix "in-" meaning "into" and root related to "incite" (to encourage). The suffix "-ive" turns it into an adjective form originally, but in English, "incentive" is used as a noun meaning something that causes action.

Inquiry

• Can you think of a time when you had an incentive to do something? What was it?
• How do incentives work differently in schools, workplaces, or at home?
• Are incentives always positive, or can they be negative too? How?