# incubate

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈɪŋkjʊbeɪt/ · frequency rank #55,513

## Definitions
1. To brood, raise, or maintain eggs, organisms, or living tissue through the provision of ideal environmental conditions.
2. To 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”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/incubate