"I" Word Origins

inapprehension

Origin

From in- + apprehension.

inappropriate

Origin

From in- plus appropriate.

inappropriately

Origin

From inappropriate plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

Inari

Japanese

Named after Inari, the Japanese deity associated with rice, foxes, and agriculture — foxes are said to favor fried tofu, which gave the dish its name.

inasmuch

Middle English

A fusion of in, as, and much, from the Middle English phrase in als mikel.

inattention

Origin

From French inattention.

inaudible

Origin

From in- plus audible.

inaudibly

Origin

From inaudible plus the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

inaugural

Latin

From French inaugural, from inaugurer, tracing back to Latin augurare, "to take omens."

inaugurate

Latin

From Latin inaugurō, originally meaning to take omens from the flight of birds before installing someone in office — from in- plus augurō, "to act as an augur."

inauguration

Middle French

From Middle French inauguration.

inauspicious

Origin

From in- plus auspicious.

inbound

Origin

From in plus bound (in the sense of "heading toward").

inbox

Origin

From in plus box.

inbreak

Origin

From Middle English *inbreken, from Old English inbrecan (“to break into”), equivalent to in- + break. Cognate with Dutch inbreken (“to break in”), German einbrechen (“to break in”).

inbreathe

Origin

From Middle English inbrethen, equivalent to in- + breathe.

inbred

Origin

From the past participle of inbreed — in- plus bred.

Inca

Spanish

From Spanish inca, from Quechua inka, meaning "emperor" or "ruler."

incalculable

Origin

From in- plus calculable.

Incan

Origin

From Inca plus the adjective-forming suffix -an.

incandescence

Origin

Borrowed from French incandescence. Morphologically incandesce + -ence.

incandescent

Latin

From French incandescent, from Latin incandescere, "to glow white-hot" — in- plus candescere, "to become white."

incantation

Latin

From Old French incantation, from Latin incantatio, related to the word "enchant."

incapable

Middle French

From Middle French incapable — in- plus capable.

incapacitate

French · 1600

From incapacity plus the verb-forming suffix -ate, from the mid-1600s; compare French incapaciter.

incarcerate

Origin

The adjective is first attested in 1528, the verb in 1575; borrowed from Medieval Latin incarcerātus, perfect passive participle of incarcerō (“to imprison”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Latin in- (“in”) + carcer (“a prison”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Common participial usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

incarcerated

Latin

From Medieval Latin incarcerare, formed from in- 'in' and carcer 'prison'.

incarceration

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin incarcerātio, built on incarcerate, itself from Latin carcer, "prison."

incarnadine

Origin

The adjective is derived from French incarnadin, incarnadine, from Italian incarnadino, a variant of incarnatino (“carnation; flesh colour”), from incarnato (“embodied, incarnate”) + -ino (suffix forming adjectives denoting composition, colour, or other qualities). Incarnato is derived from Ecclesiastical Latin and Late Latin incarnātus (“having been made incarnate”), the perfect passive participle of incarnō (“to become or make incarnate; to make into flesh”), from in- (suffix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + Latin carō (“flesh, meat; body”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). By surface analysis, in- + Latin carn- + -ade + -ine. The noun and verb are derived from the adjective. Adjective senses 2 and 3 (“of the blood-red colour of raw flesh; (figurative) bloostained, bloody”) and noun sense 2 (“blood-red colour of raw flesh”) are due to William Shakespeare’s use of the word as a verb in Macbeth (c. 1606): see the quotation below.

incarnate

Latin

From Ecclesiastical Latin incarnatus, "made flesh," from in- + caro/carn- ("flesh") — the same root as "carnal" and "carnivore."

incarnation

Late Latin

From Late Latin incarnatio, "being made flesh," ultimately from Latin caro/carn-, "flesh."

incendiary

Latin

From Latin incendiarius, "setting alight," from incendium, "a fire," ultimately from candeo, "to be hot" — the same root as "candle" and "incandescent."

incense

Late Latin

From Old French encens, "sweet-smelling substance," from Late Latin incensum, literally "something burnt." Related to incendiary and incendō, "to set on fire."

incensed

Latin

From the verb incense, "to enrage," ultimately from Latin incendō, "to set on fire."

incentive

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin incentivus, "striking up a tune," from Latin canō, "to sing" — the sense shifted to "motivating" partly under the influence of the unrelated-looking incendō, "to set on fire."

inception

Latin

From Latin inceptio, from incipiō, "to begin."

inceptive

Origin

Borrowed from French inceptif, from the Latin inceptīvus, from incipiō (“to begin”).

inceptor

Origin

Borrowed from Latin inceptor.

incertitude

Origin

From Middle French incertitude.

incessant

Latin

From Latin incessans, "not ceasing," from in- ("not") + cessāns ("ceasing").

incessive

Origin

From Latin incessus + -ive, from Latin incesso + -ive.

incest

Latin

A learned borrowing from Latin incestus, "unchaste, impure." It replaced the Old English term mǣghǣmed, literally "relative-sex."

incestual

Origin

From incest + -ual.

inch

Latin

From Old English ynce, borrowed from Latin uncia, meaning "a twelfth part" — the same root that gives us "ounce."

inchastity

Origin

From in- + chastity: compare French inchasteté.

Incheon

Origin

From Korean 인천(仁川) (Incheon).

inchoate

Origin

The adjective is first attested in 1534, the verb circa 1631; borrowed from Latin incohātus (“begun, unfinished”), perfect passive participle of incohō (“to begin”), see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3). Cognate with Spanish incoar (“to initiate, commence, begin”).

incide

Origin

From Latin incīdere; prefix in- (“in”) + caedere (“to cut”). See concise, and compare incise.