incipit

thumb|upright=1.2|Decorated incipit page to the Gospel of Matthew, 1120–1140

The incipit ( ) of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word incipit comes from Latin and means "it begins". Its counterpart taken from the ending of the text is the explicit (). The unfolding refers to a papyrus scroll. The end is also referred to as desinit, 'it is finished'.