Etymograph

English

incisive

Incisive comes from Medieval Latin incīsīvus ‘cutting, penetrating’, from Latin incīdō ‘to cut in, cut through’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂eyd-1‘to cut, hew’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂éydeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaidō1‘to cut, hew, fell’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaedō1‘to cut, hew, cut down, fell, cut off, cut to pieces’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincīdō2‘to cut in, cut through’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500incīsīvus2‘cutting, penetrating’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1856incisive2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin incido
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English incisive
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Second Book: “And her incisive smile accrediting / That treason of…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂eyd-Wiktionary, Latin incido‘to cut, hew’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂éydetiWiktionary, Latin incidoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kaidōWiktionary, Latin incido‘to cut, hew, fell’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcaedōWiktionary, Latin incido‘to cut, hew, cut down, fell, cut off, cut to pieces’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEincīdōWiktionary, English incisive‘to cut in, cut through’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500incīsīvusWiktionary, English incisive‘cutting, penetrating’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1856incisiveWiktionary, English incisive. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Second Book: “And her incisive smile accrediting / That treason of…”

The story

Late Middle English (in the sense “cutting, penetrating”), borrowed from Medieval Latin incīsīvus, from incīdō (‘to cut in, cut through’) + -īvus (“-ive”, adjectival suffix).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- ‘to cut, hew’

hit, 28 more

through Proto-Italic *kaidō ‘to cut, hew, fell’

scissors, 26 more

through Latin caedō ‘to cut, hew, cut down, fell, cut off, cut to…’

decision, cement, precise, concise, circumcision, chisel, scissor, excision, caesium, 27 more

through Latin incīdō ‘to cut in, cut through’

incident, 4 more

Today it means

adj Intelligently analytical and concise. (of a person or mental process)

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “incisive”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin incido. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- / incisive

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