Link Centre Dictionary

incubate

in·cu·bate

UK/ˈɪŋkjʊbeɪt/ US/ˈɪnkjʌˌbeɪt/ uncommon

verb

1.

develop under favorable conditions, such as germs and bacteria

2.

sit on (eggs)

  • “Birds brood”
  • “The female covers the eggs”
Synonyms

Origin

First attested in 1641; borrowed from Latin incubātus, an alternative to incubitus, perfect passive participle of incubō (“to hatch”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from in- (“in”) + cubō (“to lie”).

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Entails

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.