Incite vs insight

Incite means to stir up, to rouse to action. Incite is a transitive verb which is a verb that takes an object. Related verb forms are incites, incited and inciting. Derived nouns are incitement and inciter. Incite first appears in the mid-fifteenth century, coming from the Latin incitare meaning to put into rapid motion, to rouse, urge, encourage or stimulate. When pronouncing the word, the stress is on the second syllable, inCITE.

Insight is a noun that means the ability to see things deeply, understanding the complexities and nuances of a thing or situation. In psychology, insight means the ability to understand one’s own mental processes. In psychiatry, insight means the ability to understand one’s own mental processes and categorize psychotic and neurotic disorders. A derived adjective is insightful. The word insight appears around 1200 as innsihht, meaning sight with the eyes of the mind, mental vision, understanding. When pronouncing the word, the stress is on the first syllable, INsight.

Examples

“Anyone who writes or prints any news or articles that threaten the internal or external security of the state or the indivisible integrity of its territory and nation, which tend to incite offence, riot or insurrection, or which refer to classified state secrets, and anyone who prints or transmits such news or articles to others for the above purposes shall be held responsible under the law relevant to these offences.” (Today’s Zaman)

The czar’s clerics called the Ottomans’ Orthodox population to arms, while the Ottomans tried to incite Russia’s Muslims in the Crimean peninsula and in the Caucasus. (The New York Times)

Can austerity win an election? Portugal offers an insight as voters ready for ballot (U.S News & World Report)

There’s neither real suspense nor true insight into the motivations of Nichols and Smith beyond the requirements of a basic thriller scenario. (The St. Louis Post-Dispatch)