- Incubation
- Incubation In`cu*ba"tion, n. [L. incubatio: cf. F.
incubation.]
[1913 Webster]
1. A sitting on eggs for the purpose of hatching young; a
brooding on, or keeping warm, (eggs) to develop the life
within, by any process. --Ray.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Med.) The development of a disease from its causes, or its period of incubation. (See below.) [1913 Webster]
3. A sleeping in a consecrated place for the purpose of dreaming oracular dreams. --Tylor. [1913 Webster]
4. The maintenance (of a living organism, such as microorganisms or a premature baby) in appropriate conditions, such as of temperature, humidity, or atmospheric composition, for growth. [PJC]
5. The gradual development in some interior environment, until fully formed; as, the incubation time for developing a new drug may be longer than ten years from its first discovery. [PJC]
{Period of incubation}, or {Stage of incubation} (Med.), the period which elapses between exposure to the causes of an infectious disease and the attack resulting from it; the time during which an infective agent must grow in the body before producing overt symptoms of disease. [1913 Webster +PJC]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
