inchoate

[in-koh-it, -eyt or, esp. British, in-koh-eyt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR inchoate ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

not yet completed or fully developed; rudimentary.

just begun; incipient.

not organized; lacking order: an inchoate mass of ideas on the subject.

Origin of inchoate

1525–35; < Latin inchoātus, variant of incohātus, past participle of incohāre “to begin, start work on,” perhaps equivalent to in- in-² + coh(um) “hollow of a yoke into which the pole is fitted” + -ātus -ate¹

Related formsin·cho·ate·ly, adverbin·cho·ate·ness, noun

Can be confusedinchoate innate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for inchoate

amorphous, elementary, embryonic, formless, immature, imperfect, incipient, preliminary, rudimentary, shapeless, unfinished, unformed, inceptive, unshaped, nascent

Examples from the Web for inchoate

Contemporary Examples of inchoate

Their inchoate fury lumped together anger at same-sex marriage, at foreigners and at “the system.”
America’s Ambassadors of Hate
Christopher Dickey
February 4, 2014
Though blurred, the economic divide was still manifest, although all of them seemed to feel strong, if inchoate, political fervor.
Revolt in the Middle East: Is Jordan Next?
Rebecca Davis O'Brien
January 30, 2011
William Morris is so inchoate that you can't even really describe their culture.
Hollywood's Coming Culture Clash
Kim Masters
March 25, 2009

Historical Examples of inchoate

With obliterating unconcern, she reduced them to the fluidity of the inchoate.
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus
Some of our critics in reviewing the original work have pronounced it 'inchoate.'
Researches on Cellulose
C. F. Cross
It is, as you may choose to call it, an inchoate poem or the débris of a poem.
Poetry for Poetry's Sake
A. C. Bradley
The liability to contribute is inchoate only when the sacrifice has been made.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1
Various
He somewhere, however, calls Gregorian an "inchoate science."
Cardinal Newman as a Musician
Edward Bellasis

British Dictionary definitions for inchoate

inchoate

adjective (ɪnˈkəʊeɪt, -ˈkəʊɪt)

just beginning; incipient

undeveloped; immature; rudimentary

(of a legal document, promissory note, etc) in an uncompleted state; not yet made specific or valid

verb (ɪnˈkəʊeɪt) (tr)

to begin

Derived Formsinchoately, adverbinchoateness, nouninchoation, nouninchoative (ɪnˈkəʊətɪv), adjective

Word Origin for inchoate

C16: from Latin incohāre to make a beginning, literally: to hitch up, from in- ² + cohum yokestrap

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for inchoate

adj.

1530s, from Latin inchoatus, past participle of inchoare, alteration of incohare "to begin," originally "to hitch up," from in- "on" (see in- (2)) + cohum "strap fastened to the oxen's yoke." Related: Inchoative.