GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
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Found one definition
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Incubation (?), 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]