incubate
/ˈɪŋkjʊbeɪt/
"incubate" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“incubate” is uncommon English (frequency #55,513 among 17,902 “I” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #55,513
- frequency rank, English
- 17,902
- “I” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To brood, raise, or maintain eggs, organisms, or living tissue through the provision of ideal environmental conditions.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | incubate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈɪŋkjʊbeɪt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #55,513 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “incubate” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
incubate is uncommon English at frequency #55,513 among 17,902 “I” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈɪŋkjʊbeɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for incubate, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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”). The correct English form is incubate, spelled I-N-C-U-B-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To brood, raise, or maintain eggs, organisms, or living tissue through the provision of ideal environmental conditions.
- 2To incubate metaphorically; to ponder an idea slowly and deliberately as if in preparation for hatching it.
Etymology
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”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “incubate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-N-C-U-B-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɪŋkjʊbeɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.