incubation
American-
The act of warming eggs in order to hatch them, as by a bird sitting upon a clutch of eggs in a nest.
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The act of keeping an organism, a cell, or cell culture in conditions favorable for growth and development.
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The maintenance of an infant, especially one that is ill or born before the usual gestation period, in an environment of controlled temperature, humidity, and oxygen concentration in order to provide optimal conditions for growth and development.
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The development of an infection from the time the pathogen enters the body until signs or symptoms first appear.
Other Word Forms
- incubational adjective
- incubatory adjective
Etymology
Origin of incubation
First recorded in 1605–15, incubation is from the Latin word incubātiōn- (stem of incubātiō ). See incubate, -ion
Explanation
In science, incubation is a process of development. An incubation period is when a disease takes hold and produces symptoms — and it's also the phase of an egg getting ready to hatch. The egg meaning of incubation is the original one — the word is derived from the Latin incubare, "to hatch." When a hen sits on her eggs, warming them beneath her so they will be able hatch, that's incubation. And when an infection is in the process of "hatching" into an active illness, complete with symptoms, it's also incubation, often described as an incubation period.
Vocabulary lists containing incubation
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The eggs they fertilized hatched in incubation tanks on the banks of the McCloud, according to Rebekah Olstad, project manager for the Winnemem Wintu’s salmon restoration efforts.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 4, 2026
The incubation period, the time between infection and getting symptoms, is thought to be up to 10 days.
From BBC • Mar. 20, 2026
They also note that oviraptors likely had longer incubation periods than modern birds.
From Science Daily • Mar. 19, 2026
The virus is contagious only when symptoms appear after an incubation period of two to 21 days.
From Barron's • Dec. 1, 2025
When the sun set that night, Sam cut one more notch in a stick to keep track of the thirty-one days of incubation.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
