Someone recently asked about the word instinct, and I’m excited to delve into it. The term first appeared in the early 15th century in a history of Troy and originates from Old French with the same spelling and meaning. This Old French word can be traced back to Latin instinctus, which could refer to either “instigation” or “inspiration”. Ultimately, instinct is something that drives individuals to act, originating from the Latin verb instiguere, meaning “incite”. This verb is a combination of the prefix in-, meaning “into”, and stinguere, meaning “prick” or “goad”. The concept behind instinct suggests that it is prompted by something pricking or goading an individual. Stinguere, also found in the word extinguish, can be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European root stegw, meaning “to thrust”.
