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inchoate

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in⋅cho⋅ate

  [in-koh-it, -eyt or, especially Brit., in-koh-eyt]
Use inchoate in a Sentence
–adjective
1. not yet completed or fully developed; rudimentary.
2. just begun; incipient.
3. not organized; lacking order: an inchoate mass of ideas on the subject.
Origin:
1525–35; < L inchoātus, var. of incohātus ptp. of incohāre to begin, start work on, perh. equiv. to in- -in-2 + coh(um) hollow of a yoke into which the pole is fitted + -ātus -ate 1

Related forms:
in⋅cho⋅ate⋅ly, adverb
in⋅cho⋅ate⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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in·cho·ate   (ĭn-kō'ĭt)   
adj.  

  1. In an initial or early stage; incipient.

  2. Imperfectly formed or developed: a vague, inchoate idea.


[Latin inchoātus, past participle of inchoāre, to begin, alteration of incohāre : in-, in; see in-2 + cohum, strap from yoke to harness.]
in·cho'ate·ly adv., in·cho'ate·ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

inchoate 
1534, from L. inchoatus, pp. of inchoare, alteration of incohare "to begin," originally "to hitch up," from in- "on" + cohum "strap fastened to the oxen's yoke."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: in·cho·ate
Pronunciation: in-'kO-&t, 'i[ng]-kO-"At
Function: adjective
1 a : not yet made complete, certain, or specific : not perfected —see also inchoate lien at LIEN b : not yet transformed into actual use or possession inchoate right —Peterson v. Fire & Police Pension Ass'n, 759 Pacific Reporter, Second Series 720 (1988)>
2 : of or relating to a crime (as attempt, solicitation, or conspiracy) which consists of acts that are preliminary to another crime and that are in themselves criminal —compare CHOATE
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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