Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

nascent

[nas-uh nt, ney-suh nt]
See more synonyms for nascent on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. beginning to exist or develop: That nascent republic is holding its first election this month.
  2. Chemistry. (of an element) in the nascent state.
Show More

Origin of nascent

1615–25; < Latin nāscent- (stem of nāscēns), present participle of nāscī to be born, arise, equivalent to nā(tus) born (variant of gnātus) + -sc- inchoative suffix + -ent- -ent
Related formsnas·cence, nas·cen·cy, nounun·nas·cent, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

embryonicnascentintroductoryoriginalbasicincipientpromisinggrowingfledglingburgeoningundevelopedantecedentopeningleadinginauguralpioneerinfantinitiativefundamentalvirgin

Examples from the Web for nascent

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The mystery indeed in which her nascent love had wrapped him had dropped away.

    The Coryston Family

    Mrs. Humphry Ward

  • Freneau succeeded admirably in voicing the opinions of the nascent party.

    Union and Democracy

    Allen Johnson

  • All his nascent intellectual powers were alive and clamorous.

    Robert Elsmere

    Mrs. Humphry Ward

  • And it is his own hand which has done most to break the nascent slowly-forming tie.

    Robert Elsmere

    Mrs. Humphry Ward

  • The impulses which it obeys are all new; and it obeys them with its own nascent plasticity of temper.

British Dictionary definitions for nascent

nascent

adjective
  1. starting to grow or develop; being born
  2. chem (of an element or simple compound, esp hydrogen) created within the reaction medium in the atomic form and having a high activity
Show More
Derived Formsnascence or nascency, noun

Word Origin

C17: from Latin nascēns present participle of nāscī to be born
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 nascent

adj.

1620s, from Latin nascentem (nominative nascens) "arising young, immature," present participle of nasci "to be born" (Old Latin gnasci; see genus). Related: Nascence (1560s); nascency.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
nascent in Medicine

nascent

(năs′ənt, nā′sənt)
adj.
  1. Coming into existence; emerging.
  2. Of or relating to the state of a chemical element at the moment it is set free from one of its compounds.
Show More
Related formsnas′cen•cy n.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.