English Explanatory Dictionary

incubate

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To brood, raise, or maintain eggs, organisms, or living tissue through the provision of ideal environmental conditions.
  2. To incubate metaphorically; to ponder an idea slowly and deliberately as if in preparation for hatching it.
noun
  1. A preparation, or material, that has been incubated.

Pronunciation

/ˈɪŋkjʊbeɪt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-incubate.wav

Word forms

incubate incubates incubating incubated

Etymology

First attested in 1641; borrowed from Latin incubātus, an alternative to incubitus, perfect passive participle of incubō (“to hatch”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from in- (“in”) + cubō (“to lie”).

Derived words

coincubate incubatee incubation incubative incubator nonincubated preincubate reincubate unincubated
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