incubate

Definitions


[ˈɪŋkjʊbeɪt], (Verb)

Definitions:
- (of a bird) sit on (eggs) in order to keep them warm and bring them to hatching

- be developing an infectious disease before symptoms appear
(e.g: the possibility that she was incubating early syphilis)


Phrases:

Origin:
mid 17th century: from Latin incubat- ‘lain on’, from the verb incubare, from in- ‘upon’ + cubare ‘to lie’




definition by Oxford Dictionaries