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incubation

incubation

14 6.1
The time between catching an infection and the first signs of illness
  • noun
  • /ˌɪŋkjʊˈbeɪʃən/
  • Specialized
translation icon : incubación
  • Giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis both have long incubation periods (one to 12 days and three to 25 days, respectively).
  • incubation period
  • incubation period for giardiasis
  • incubation period for influenza

And this loneliness is an incubation period for psychological ailments.

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Examples

  • After an infective bite, there's an incubation period, usually of one to six days, and then the classic symptoms appear.

  • Among these 9 patients, the median incubation period was 6 (range 3-9) days.

    Academic text (2015)
  • SAM: Do you know the incubation period?

  • What is the incubation period?

  • The incubation period is less than that.

  • The incubation period appears to be two hours.

  • Once inside the human body, it has an incubation period that can last from two days to a few weeks.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Well, the period of incubation of this disease is very brief, maybe six to eight hours at the most.

  • After a brief incubation period... victims present with stage one symptoms.

  • The incubation period for the virus usually lasts between five to seven days before symptoms appear.

Synonyms

incubation period
vsincubation
  • Specialized
8 3.5

Time between becoming infected and showing symptoms

is the same concept expressed as a briefer medical term

Compounds

incubation period
  • Specialized
8 3.5

Time between becoming infected and showing symptoms

3.8

A time when people develop a new product or idea before public release

How Active

activity
362 1.1
emergence
56 4.9
incubation
  • Specialized
14 6.1
latency
1 7.4
dormancy
3 6.2

Surface Forms

incubation singular
incubations plural

Morphology

incubation = incubate (semi-transparent) = incubate + ion

The noun is a straightforward nominalization of 'incubate', but the medical sense (period between exposure and symptoms) is a specialized extension and not purely literal for all learners.

Etymology

Incubation comes from the Latin incubare, made of in- 'on' and cubare 'to lie down'. So, in illness the incubation period is the time a germ 'lies' in the body quietly before symptoms appear.