incubation period

American  

noun

Pathology.

1. the period between infection and the appearance of signs of a disease.

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incubation period British  

noun

1. Sometimes shortened to: incubation.  med the time between exposure to an infectious disease and the appearance of the first signs or symptoms

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incubation period Cultural  

1. The amount of time it takes for symptoms of a disease to appear after an individual is infected (see infection) with the pathogen that causes the disease.

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Etymology

Origin of incubation period

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

incubation period

Given the weeklong average incubation period, Michigan data suggests that:

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

The incubation period of Ebola ranges from two to 21 days and the humanitarian worker will be required to isolate throughout.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

Tracing its source poses particular difficulties for two reasons: an incubation period of up to two weeks before symptoms first appear, and lack of a genetic fingerprint, unlike, say, E. coli.

From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026

The incubation period ranges from 2 to 21 days.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 22, 2026

I wondered what the incubation period was for tetanus or—or for rabies.

From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler