incubation

[in-kyuh-bey-shuhn, ing-]

noun

1. the act or process of incubating.

2. the state of being incubated.

3. incubation period.

incubation

1. The act of warming eggs in order to hatch them, as by a bird sitting upon a clutch of eggs in a nest.

2. The act of keeping an organism, a cell, or cell culture in conditions favorable for growth and development.

3. 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.

4. 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of incubation¹

First recorded in 1605–15, incubation is from the Latin word incubātiōn- (stem of incubātiō ). See incubate, -ion

Example Sentences

The incubation period can stretch from several days to three weeks.

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This is the most serious form of the plague and can have an incubation period of just one day.

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Depending on the species of vulture we're talking about, incubation ranges from 50 days to almost two months.

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Because of the lengthy incubation time, “we really have to get ahead of this,” Gounder said.

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Steers believes a more realistic timeline is 38 to 40 days until the first one may hatch, due to the delayed incubation.

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