incipient

[in-sip-ee-uhnt]

adjective

1. beginning to exist or appear; in an initial stage.

   an incipient cold.

   Synonyms: developing, nascent, beginning

incipient

/ ɪnˈsɪpɪənt /

adjective

1. just starting to be or happen; beginning

Other Word Forms

• incipiently adverb
• incipience noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of incipient¹

1580–90; < Latin incipient- (stem of incipiēns, present participle of incipere to take in hand, begin), equivalent to in- in- ² + -cipi- (combining form of capi- take) + -ent- -ent

Word History and Origins

Origin of incipient¹

C17: from Latin incipiēns, from incipere to begin, take in hand, from _in- ² + capere to take

Example Sentences

"We kept seeing incipient problems which I thought were not being tackled properly, and indeed I thought the problems were getting worse," he told the House of Commons committee.

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But he stressed there were "incipient problems" not being tackled.

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His other features all arranged themselves, almost dutifully, around the incipient thought.

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He also signals, with chapters on highway-building, housing and incipient suburbanization, new forces that would radically reshape both the cityscape and patterns of living.

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If you were worried about incipient inflation, it makes things worse.

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Related Words

• embryonic 
• nascent