incubation
American-
The act of warming eggs in order to hatch them, as by a bird sitting upon a clutch of eggs in a nest.
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The act of keeping an organism, a cell, or cell culture in conditions favorable for growth and development.
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The maintenance of an infant, especially one that is ill or born before the usual gestation period, in an environment of controlled temperature, humidity, and oxygen concentration in order to provide optimal conditions for growth and development.
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The development of an infection from the time the pathogen enters the body until signs or symptoms first appear.
Other Word Forms
- incubational adjective
- incubatory adjective
Etymology
Origin of incubation
First recorded in 1605–15, incubation is from the Latin word incubātiōn- (stem of incubātiō ). See incubate, -ion
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Will we start to see evidence the efforts to contain the spread are working, even though the long incubation period means it will take some time before anyone will declare this is over?
From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026
They also compared their findings with modern bird incubation.
From Science Daily • Mar. 19, 2026
The virus is contagious only when symptoms appear after an incubation period of two to 21 days.
From Barron's • Dec. 1, 2025
Depending on the species of vulture we're talking about, incubation ranges from 50 days to almost two months.
From Salon • May 11, 2025
According to these authors, the delayed but lethal effect on the young birds follows from storage of dieldrin in the yolk of the egg, from which it is gradually assimilated during incubation and after hatching.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
