incubation period
"incubation-period" is a 16-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“incubation period” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 17
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The time elapsed between an exposure to a pathogenic organism, a chemical or radiation, and the appearance of signs and symptoms.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | incubation period |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 17 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “incubation period” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
incubation period is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The time elapsed between an exposure to a pathogenic organism, a chemical or radiation, and the appearance of signs and symptoms.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for incubation period in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Since 1850s, from earlier period of incubation, attested in that now obsolete sense since late 1820s, which is a calque of French période d'incubation (attested since mid-1810s), itself a calque from Latin periodus incubationis (attested since 1770s). The correct English form is incubation period, spelled I-N-C-U-B-A-T-I-O-N- -P-E-R-I-O-D.
Definition
- 1The time elapsed between an exposure to a pathogenic organism, a chemical or radiation, and the appearance of signs and symptoms.
Etymology
Since 1850s, from earlier period of incubation, attested in that now obsolete sense since late 1820s, which is a calque of French période d'incubation (attested since mid-1810s), itself a calque from Latin periodus incubationis (attested since 1770s).
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “incubation period”
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-I-O-N- -P-E-R-I-O-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.