Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The beginning or opening words of the text of a medieval manuscript or early printed book.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- ‘(Here) beginneth’: the first word in a preliminary formula common in medieval manuscripts and early printed books, introducing the title or name of the work or of the preface or other part of it: as, “Incipit preambulum”; “Incipit prologus in libellum qui dicitur Promptorius Parvulorum,” etc. Compare explicit, verb
- n. The introductory words of a book or section of a book. Compare explicit, n.
Wiktionary
- n. The first few words of a text, especially its first line.
Etymologies
- From Latin, third person sing. present tense of incipere, to begin; see inception.
Examples
“Christian wisdom," which already emerged from the first reading and the Gospel, offers us the synthesis of this position of Leo XIII -- it is not by chance that it is also the "incipit" of one of his encyclicals.”
“Fixations, Earworms, Jungian Memes incipit vita nova”
Where Do Those Ideas Come From? Fixations, Earworms, Jungian Memes
“Below is the full Latin text [AH 55, Nr. 188, with the incipit found in KSB underlined and variations given in parentheses] and the full German text as found in the edition of KSB, 159-62.”
Sensual Encounters: Monastic Women and Spirituality in Medieval Germany
“In its talons, it clutches a scroll upon which is written the incipit for a passage in John's Gospel reporting the activities of John the Baptist.”
Sensual Encounters: Monastic Women and Spirituality in Medieval Germany
“From the Howard Psalter (Arundel 83 I) showing the incipit of Psalm 80 ("Exultate Deo").”
“I enjoyed this post the incipit is fantastic, and the discussion in the comments.”
“From Oxford's Bodleian Library (MS.Don. b. 31), an Agnus Dei with the incipit beautifully encased in the initial Q of "qui.”
“All but one of the nine French-texted songs that carry Prioris's name are rondeaux although one survives with only a text incipit.”
“As a result there are two texts with the same incipit.”
“Therefore, without further incipit, let me present these crackpot ideas in Courier font, the favored font of crackpots around the world:”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘incipit’.
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SeanCroft's list
oleaginous, antelucan, anemones, duennes, pluterperfect, peritoneal, peritoneum, abattoir, accouchement, morganatic, teratalogy, dysmorphology and 21 more...
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The Pits
armpit, pit, pits, cockpit, pity, pithy, pit bull terrier, pit boss, pit stop, pitcher, fire pit, peach pit and 76 more...
seancroft –noun
1. the introductory words or opening phrases in the text of a medieval manuscript or an early printed book.
2. Music. the first words of a chanted liturgical text, as that of a Gregorian chant or certain medieval motets.
-dictionary.com Jan 31, 2009