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

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

South Kivu has now gone 49 consecutive days without confirming a new Ebola case, exceeding the disease’s maximum 42-day incubation period, the U.N. said this week.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026

The incubation period ranges from 2 to 21 days.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 22, 2026

But he warned there is a long way to go as the eggs are "only around two weeks into incubation" and a curlew's incubation period is around 28 days.

From BBC ● May 31, 2026

As to whether their blood would glow tomorrow or the next day or the day after that, only time would tell, but he and Geisbert were climbing out of the incubation period.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston